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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



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JEROME BONAPARTE. 




"f i / 1> 

ELIZABETH PATTERSON. 



9664,0^ 

THE 



^M^-pttmw l|am&^ 



IlsT 1S03, 



AND THE 



SECRET CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT 



NEVER BEFORE MADE PUBLIC. 



COIiliECTED AND ARRANGED BY 

W. T. K. SAFFELL, 

AUTHOR OF "RECORDS OF THE REVOLUTION," ETC. 






PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY THE PROPRIETOK. 

1873. 



AU rights reserved. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

WILLIAM L. SAFFELL, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



mjears & dusenbery, 
Stereotypers. 



h. b. ashmead, 
Printer. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE. 



In explanation of the communication from Col. 
Jerome N. Bonaparte and Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte 
which appears below, the Publisher of this book deems 
it expedient to say a few words. 

The facts so far as known in the case of the mar- 
riage of Jerome Bonaparte to Miss Patterson in 1803, 
have so long been matters of history, that when the 
author came into possession of the complete corres- 
pondence on the subject, he did not feel that in making 
it public, he should be doing other than contributing 
to a portion of history about which a good deal had 
been already written. 

Out of courtesy to Mde. Bonaparte, who is still 
living, he sent to her, through a friend, the proof 
sheets of the greater part of the work, and the design 
of the book was fully explained to her. Mde. Bona- 
parte made no objection to its issue, saying, that 
" the publication of the volume was a matter of per- 
fect indifference to her." 

(v) 



vi P UBLISHER'S NO TE. 

This was as early as October 1872, but in January 
1873, Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte called to request 
that the book should not be published, not denying 
however the right to publish it ; the book was then 
almost ready for issue. Mr. Bonaparte requested V 
the lines below to be inserted in the preface : 

u Tliis work is published in opposition to the 
formally expressed wishes of Gol. Jerome N. 
Bonaparte and Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte." 

It is presumed that Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte had 

authority to express Col. Jerome N. Bonaparte's 

wishes. 

W. T. R. Saffell. 

Philadelphia, Feb. 10th 1872. 



INTRODUCTION. 



For the appearance in this form of a documentary 
narrative of events which followed the most wonderful 
marriage known in historic times, we have no apolo- 
gies to offer. We would not, however, make it appear 
that the marriage itself was so wonderful ; but would 
say, that the events which followed it find no parallel 
either in the annals of fact, or in the domains of 
fancy. We refer to the marriage of Miss Elizabeth 
Patterson of Baltimore, to Jerome Bonaparte of 
France. 

In the secret correspondence on the subject, which 
we publish in this volume, we have brought to view 
many hidden facts; and hope we have furnished 
strange and useful information to the general reader, 
the moralist, and the historian. 

That the public may learn how we came into the 
possession of the original letters and other documents 
quoted or published at large in this volume, we have 
to say simply, that we bought them from Houtine & 

(vii) 



viii INTRODUCTION. 

Murdock, dealers in paper-makers' material, on Cen- 
tre Market Space, Baltimore. These gentlemen, to 
our own personal knowledge, and to that of many- 
gentlemen of Baltimore, bought them as "waste 
paper," directly from Mr. William Patterson's old 
warehouse on Gay street. In the lot of old docu- 
ments which we purchased, we found a bundle of 
English and French letters on the subject of the 
marriage, carefully filed in the order of time, and in 
perfect preservation. These we copied, and, at his 
request, returned the originals to Mr. Patterson's 
grandson, now occupying the warehouse. 

Mr. Robert Patterson was in Europe during the 
time of the troubles arising from his sister's marriage ; 
and his letters on the subject, made up from the most 
reliable French, English, and German sources of in- 
formation, and addressed to his father in Baltimore, 
contain a thrilling history of the mysterious develop- 
ments which succeeded the marriage with the most 
alarming rapidity. From these letters, in chief, and 
from those of other distinguished writers, collected 
and filed by Mr. Patterson, we have formed a chain 
of narrative, extending from the time of Jerome 
Bonaparte's marriage to Miss Patterson on the 24th 
of December 1803, to the time of his second marriage 
to the princess Frederica Catharina, in 1807. 

We do not mean to call attention to what we have 



INTRODUCTION. ix 

to say upon the subject of the marriage in question, 
for we make no pretensions to authorship ; but we 
mean, simply, to favor the public with what distin- 
guished writers have written concerning it ; and we 
call special attention to the letters of the following 
gentlemen, which are carefully copied in this book, 
viz. : 

William Patterson, the bride's father. 

Robert Patterson, her brother. 

M. Dacres, French Minister of Marine. 

Robert R. Livingston, American Minister to 
France. 

Gen. John Armstrong, his successor. 

Gen. Tuerreau, French Minister at Washington. 

Gen. Samuel Smith, of Maryland. 

Gen. Rewbell, of the French army. 

Capt. Paul Bentalou, of Baltimore. 

M. Meyronet, of the French Navy. 

M. Maupertuis, French Consul at Rotterdam. 

Sylvanus Bourne, U. S. Consul General, Batavian 
Republic. 

P. Cuneo de Ornano, of St. Croix de Teneriffe. 

M. Le Camus, of Genoa. 

Jerome Bonaparte. 

Madame Bonaparte, his wife. 

Geo. M. Paterson, of Lille, her cousin. 

Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, and several anony- 
mous writers. 

Many of these letters are in French, and some of 
those of Robert Patterson in cipher. We have also 
made use of paragraphs from the newspapers of the 
day, and items floating in the mists of tradition, 
when they were found to be to the credit of the dis- 
tinguished American family into which Jerome was 
introduced. 

From the letters of M. Maupertuis, we have the 
secrets which leaked out from the court of Napoleon 
through the Empress Josephine ; and from those of 
Captain Bentalou we have some gossip from distin- 
guished ladies near the throne. 

We have given above the main authorities which 
we quote. Each link in the chain of events has been 
so well wrought by the original writers themselves, 
that we have had but little to do by way of comple- 
tion ; and when the reader comes to the end of the 
book, he will feel that the subject is exhausted, and 
that he has been instructed, amused, and satisfied. 

W. T. R. S. 

Baltimore, Jan. 1873. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Jerome Bonaparte — He visits Baltimore — Commodore Bar- 
ney — Miss Elizabeth Patterson — Her great beauty — 
Jerome proposes marriage — Gossip and scandal — Anony- 
mous letters — The marriage — Tranquillity restored — 
Young couple visit Washington City — General Tuerreau 
— General Smith — His letter about " Betsy' 1 — Mr. Pat- 
terson writes to Minister Livingston — Napoleon angry 
on account of the marriage — Letters from the President 
of the United States on the subject — Specks of war — 
Napoleon and Agamemnon — Robert Patterson goes to 
Paris — Delicate diplomacy — Mr. Livingston's views — 
Letters from Miss Monroe — Madame Louis Bonaparte 
in Paris — Madame Campan — Citizen Genet — Fulwar 
Skipwith; — Captain Paul Bentalou, of Baltimore . . 25 



CHAPTER II. 

Biographical sketch of the members of the Bonaparte family 
— Thoughts on Jerome's marriage — Robert Patterson's 
second letter — Hopes of reconciliation — Jerome to be 
established in Ameriea — Lucien Bonaparte's opinions — 
Paul Bentalou' s hopeful letter — Dining with Lucien — 
Napoleon's displeasure manifest — Stirring appeal to 
arms — Britain to be conquered — Mr. Patterson's third 
letter — Mr. Livingston again — A call on Joseph Bona- 

(xi) 



xii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

parte — He is silent — Lucien's character — Silence in 
France — Robert goes to Amsterdam — French frigates 
plough towards New York — Napoleon's silence broken 
— Pichon in New York — French captains and the 
"young person" 40 



CHAPTER III. 

Letter from M. Dacres to citizen Pichon — Strict orders — 
Jerome's pay withheld — He is ordered home — His wife 
to be left in the United States — Not to put her foot on 
the territory of France — French captains not to receive 
her on board their vessels — Jerome is implored to return 
alone to France — Letter from M. Dacres to Jerome — 
Napoleon's opinions of the marriage — Letters of Dacres 
intercepted by a British commander — He copies them 
— The secret out — Mr. Patterson writes to Jerome — 
Gives the extent of his information — Hope runs high — 
Chancellor Livingston recalled from France — General 
Armstrong succeeds him — Mr. Livingston writes to Mr. 
Patterson — He sends Joseph Bonaparte's letter — Its 
translation 66 



CHAPTER IV. 

The young couple in Baltimore — Sleighs and snow-balls — 
Bad boys — Gossip in New York — French frigates — 
Bonaparte and lady about to sail for France — His bag- 
gage on board — Going in The Dido — British frigates on 
the watch — The couple do not embark — Robert Patter- 
son in Amsterdam — News from Paris — Letter from a 
strange writer — He hails from Lille — Pope of Rome — 
Queen of Etruria — The young couple visit the " Hub" — 
A secret gets out — More gossip— General Armstrong 
sails — Madame Bonaparte does not — Her letter of ex- 



CONTENTS. xiii 

PAGE 

planation — " Little Baltimore beauty" — An astonishing 
paragraph in the French papers — Napoleon's opinion of 
his brother Joseph — Joseph's remarkable letter to 
Jerome 88 



CHAPTER V. 

.Robert Patterson — Paul Bentalou — Lucien Bonaparte — 
The scandalous paragraph — Maupertuis — Miss Caton — 
Duke of Wellington — General Armstrong on marriage 
— More letters from Robert Patterson— -Letters of Dacres 
in Halifax — Sensation in New York — Young couple 
shipwrecked in the Delaware — Madame Bonaparte first 
in the life-boat — Narrow escape from drowning — Balti- 
more and Philadelphia out-sensation New York — Phila- 
delphia comes out best — More letters from Mr. Patter- 
son — Young couple encounter 44 guns — Madame Bona- 
parte's courage — The gentleman who came out with 
John — A great wheel — Excursion into the wilds — Mons. 
P. de Maupertuis at the wheel — His wonderful letters 
— His leagues of cable — Jerome's disgrace — Coronation 
of Napoleon and Josephine — The world is dazzled . . 104 

CHAPTER VI. 

Maupertuis retires — Napoleon appears again — His prestige 
— Battle of Austerlitz — Young couple contemplate sail- 
ing — Reflections on the embarkation — Robert Patterson 
on speculation — General Smith again — P. Cuneo De Or- 
nano — His letter — Mr. Patterson's letter — General Arm- 
strong — Letter from M. Meyronet to Jerome — Mr. 
Patterson alarmed — He writes in cipher — The Moniteur 
— Lucien Bonaparte in prison — Jerome to be thrown 
in prison — Betsy to be sent back — The young couple 
embark for Europe — Departure from Baltimore — Gen- 
eral Tuerreau, French Minister — Jerome's horses — Mr. 



xiv CONTENTS. 



Carrere — " London-particular-three-years-old-wine" — - 
General Rewbell's letter — Jonathan Jones — Wet letters 
— Bordeaux Gazette 137 



CHAPTER VII. 

Young couple on the sea ! — Kobert Patterson in Paris — 
General Kewbell — The Erin safe — Sad news in cipher — 
Storms of wit — Deception u all the go" — Nineteen days 
at sea — Blue hills of Portugal — Letter from Bonaparte 
— " Sea-sick never kills nobody" — Foreign gossip — 
Letters in cipher — The cipher changed — Gossip in 
Boston — The u Columbian Centinel" irate — The Bona- 
partes lampooned — Letters of Dacres published — Phila- 
delphia and the Moniteur — Bentalou and Skipwith — 
Mr. Livingston's treaty — t( Bills" — Another letter from 
Lille — Affairs in Holland — Mr. Schimmelpenninck — 
Madame Bonaparte not allowed to land in Holland — 
Sylvanus Bourne pleads her cause — She is placed under 
guns — Mr. Bourne's letter — Gossip in London — Madame 
Bonaparte goes there — Jerome and Le Camus at Genoa 168 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Robert Patterson at Dover — His letter from that place — Je- 
rome Bonaparte again — Mr. Monroe and Mr. Patter- 
son — Madame Bonaparte going to the Continent — Her 
letter to her father — Mr. Patterson writes from London — 
— Another letter from Madame Bonaparte — Marchioness 
of Donnegal — General Tuerreau — Mr. Monroe — Deceit- 
fulness of the French — Dr. Gamier is deceptive — He 
recommends Madame Bonaparte to go home — Jerome 
does the same — She goes when ready — Le Camus again 
— Napoleon's speech — Jerome at Malmaison — He writes 
to the Emperor — The Emperor's reply — Jerome's mar- 



CONTENTS. xv 

PAGE 

riage has no existence — Mr. Mcllhiny of London — 
Madame Bonaparte and child embark for home — Captain 
Bentalou writes again — Amusing letters — Jerome de- 
jected—His * little girl" affair— " My dear little wife " 
— Queen of Etruria spurns Jerome — His second mar- 
riage — Jereme Napoleon Bonaparte — His death — His 
letter . 250 



THE 



BOMPAETMATTERSON MARRIAGE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Jerome Bonaparte — He visits Baltimore — Commodore Bar- 
ney — Miss Elizabeth Patterson — Her great beauty— Jerome 
proposes marriage — Gossip and scandal — Anonymous letters 
— The marriage — Tranquillity restored — Young couple visit 
Washington City — General Tuerreau — General Smith — His 
letter about " Betsy" — Mr. Patterson writes to Minister Liv- 
ingston — Napoleon angry on account of the marriage — Letters 
from the President of the United States on the subject — 
Specks of war — Napoleon and Agamemnon — Robert Patterson 
goes to Paris — Delicate diplomacy — Mr. Livingston's views — 
Letters from Miss Monroe — Madame Louis Bonaparte in Paris 
— Madame Campan — Citizen Genet — Fulwar Skipwith — Cap- 
tain Paul Bentalou, of Baltimore. 

Jerome Bonaparte, youngest brother of Napo- 
leon I., Emperor of France, was born on the 15th day 
of December 1784, at Ajaccio, on the island of Cor- 
sica, in the Mediterranean Sea. Educated princi- 
pally under Madame Campan in and near Paris, he 
was, in early life, placed in the naval service of France, 
where he remained till the year 1801.V" 

2 (25) 



26 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Styling himself conqueror and pacificator, Napo- 
leon, in November of that year, sent an expedition in 
command of General Leclerc, his brother-in-law, to 
crush an insurrection of the negroes on the island of 
St. Domingo ; and Jerome, as lieutenant under him, 
accompanied that large army. The expedition termi- 
nated unsuccessfully and fatally, a greater part of the 
men being swept away by fever and by the sword. 

Jerome soon returned to France as bearer of dis- 
patches ; and, receiving there an independent com- 
mand, sailed for the island of Martinique ; and 
cruised between St. Pierre and Tobago during the 
hostilities between England and France in 1803 ; but 
for some reason not given left the station in the same 
year, and sailed for New York in command of a 
French frigate. The broadcast fame of Napoleon 
insured for Jerome a cordial reception in America, 
and he was received with great honors wherever he 
went. 

In 1796, Captain Joshua Barney, of the American 
navy, received a rank in the French service equal to 
that of a commodore in the service of the United 
States ; and had been employed in the West Indies 
under French colors ; but from this service he obtained 
a final release in 1802, and returned to his home in 
Baltimore. His young Corsican friend, and com- 
panion in the French service, soon found his way from 
New York to Baltimore, and met with a distinguished 
reception from Captain Barney and other prominent 
citizens of the place. At the house of Samuel Chase, 
one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 27 

Independence, Captain Bonaparte met a great num- 
ber of persons in " high social, political, and literary 
life. ' , Here he made the acquaintance of Miss Eliza- 
beth Patterson, daughter of William Patterson, Es- 
quire, a highly respectable and wealthy Irish mer- 
chant of that city. 

This beautiful and accomplished young lady, it is 
alleged, had declared prophetically, long before she 
had seen young Bonaparte, that some day or other she 
would become a great lady in France ; and at a party 
where they met soon after their acquaintance, Bona- 
parte's gold chain was accidentally thrown around 
her neck, entangling itself so as to hold her fast; 
and as he gracefully disentangled it, she called to 
mind her strange prophecy. From that hour we may 
safely date the beginning of her eventful matrimonial 
experience. 

Freighted with the weight of a great foreign name, 
Jerome speedily gained those advantages in American 
society for which distinguished foreigners in every 
period of our history have been so remarkable. Less 
himself than twenty years of age when he arrived in 
Baltimore, Miss Patterson, though possessed of great 
beauty, was less than eighteen ; and it is said " she 
strikingly resembled the Bonaparte family." Be- 
coming strongly attached to her, probably from first 
•sight, she was sent to Virginia to escape his atten- 
tions ; but the attachment was mutual, and remon- 
strances were therefore in vain. That strong passion 
which blunts the mind and obscures the vision was 
the ruling passion ; and a license for their marriage 



28 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

issued from the Baltimore County Court-House on 
the 29th of October 1803. Strong and rapidly 
formed currents of affection, like all others, meet 
grave obstacles in their course, and this was strik- 
ingly true with respect to the case in point ; for, in 
the language of the young lady's father, " the mar- 
riage was broken off," even after the license formally 
issued. The most splendid preparations had been 
made for the ceremony — -preparations sufficiently bril- 
liant to eclipse those of vice-regal days in the olden 
time, when blue wreaths of smoke, betraying the 
half-hidden mansion and proclaiming the costly ban- 
quet, ascended gracefully through the trees from a 
thousand hospitable chimneys. 

Amid these preparations for the sacred altar, 
however, gossip stood tip-toe and scandal rampant. 
Family ancestries were discussed and character vili- 
fied. The Patterson family of Baltimore stood high 
and honorable upon firm foundations of wealth and 
merit. The worthy head of that family, William 
Patterson, Esq., stood shoulder to shoulder with 
Robert Morris and Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, 
with open purse, bearing the financial weight of the 
Revolution, and the subsequent dark days of the 
republic. He enjoyed in a high degree the friendship 
of Washington, La Fayette, and Carroll, and could 
claim companionship with Smallwood, Grist, Howard, 
Smith, and Williams. Though no soldier himself, his 
great wealth and popularity cheerfully marched to 
the music of Independence. He cordially welcomed 
the French fleet which landed the forces of Rocham- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 29 

beau at Newport in 1781 ; and, extending his hos- 
pitalities still further with those of his patriotic 
countrymen, Welcoming Count de Estaing in the 
Chesapeake, he thus contributed largely to the sur- 
render of Cornwallis, and to the independence of the 
New World, while adulation even failed to endow the 
Bonaparte family with that ancient and honorable 
ancestry which it essayed to claim. Napoleon well 
knew that his own abilities and performances would 
constitute about all the nobility he could boast, and 
he should have been wisely acting upon this know- 
ledge at the time of Jerome's marriage. 

In six days after the 29th of October 1803, the 
day on which, as before stated, the license for the 
marriage of Jerome with Miss Patterson issued, the 
father of the young lady received an anonymous com- 
munication which he carefully endorsed with the fol- 
lowing words: "Received this letter by the Penny 
Post, on Saturday, bih November 1803, at one o'clock 

P. M." 

"Is it possible, sir," inquires the writer, "you can 
so far forget yourself, and the happiness of your child, 
as to consent to her marrying Mr. Bonaparte ? If 
you knew him, you never would, as misery must be 
her portion — he who but a few months ago destroyed 
the peace and happiness of a respectable family in 
Nantz by promising marriage, then ruined, leaving 
her to misery and shame. What has been his con- 
duct in the West Indies ? There ruined a lovely 
young woman who had only been married for a few 
weeks ! He parted her from her husband, and 



30 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

destroyed that family ! and here, what is his conduct ? 
At the very moment he was demanding your daughter 
in marriage he ruined a young French girl, whom 
he now leaves also in misery ! His conduct at Nantz 
and in the West Indies has already reached his bro- 
ther's ears, and he dares not appear before him ! 
His voyage to this country proves it ! He now wishes 
to secure himself a home at your expense until things 
can be arranged for his return to France, when rest 
assured he will be the first to turn your daughter off, 
and laugh at your credulity ! Nothing that can be 
done will be binding on him ; and if you knew his 
moral character of dissipation, you would never ! no, 
never ! even with the approbation of his family, trust 
your daughter to him. Then take advice in time and 
break off everything before it is too late. Let nothing 
on earth tempt you to such an union ! What is here 
said may be depended upon, and much more might be 
said, for, without exception, he is the most profligate 
young man of the age. Demand seriously of Miss 
Wheeler , v and you will there find he has already 
demanded her in marriage with the same intentions ! 
Will he marry your daughter at the Catholic church 
before the Bishop in open day, as did his friend ? I 
say no ! because he knows such a marriage would be 
in some measure binding upon him ; but that he will 
not do, nor anything else that will appear against 
him. Trust not his honor ! there never was any in 
his family ! Yours, A Friend." 

This letter is well written, in a bold hand, but with- 
out date. The writer appears to have been possessed 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 31 

of some scholarly ability, but, judging from his pro- 
duction, he evidently labored to conceal it, and as 
much as possible disguise his penmanship. 

After this letter had reposed in silence and oblivion 
for almost three-quarters of a century, perhaps dis- 
regarded from first to last by its custodians, it was 
sold in the Baltimore market, and purchased with the 
other letters quoted in this book ; and the Bonaparte- 
Patterson correspondence, telling its stories of wonder / 
to another generation, is still in perfect preservation. 

Notwithstanding the " breaking off," and the warn- 
ings fulminated from various quarters, the contem- 
plated marriage did take place on Saturday, Christ- 
mas Eve, December the 24th 1803. In the Baltimore 
"Federal Gazette" of Tuesday, the 27th day of that 
month, the marriage is thus noticed : 

" Married, on Saturday evening last, by the Reverend Bishop 
Carroll, Mr. Jerome Bonaparte, youngest brother of the First 
Consul of the French Republic, to Miss Elizabeth Patterson, 
eldest daughter of William Patterson, Esquire, of this city." 

No commentator upon the event adds another word in 
the same paper ; but a writer in the New American 
Cyclopaedia says : " The marriage ceremony was per- 
formed by the Bishop of Baltimore, John Carroll, 
brother of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and in accord- 
ance with the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church. 
The marriage contract, considered of importance, was 
•drawn up by Alexander J. Dallas, subsequently Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, and witnessed by several offi- 
cial personages, including the Mayor of Baltimore." 



32 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

For a short season after the marriage, tranquillity 
appeared to he restored along the lines of gossip, and 
the monster Slander, fat from devouring the pyramid 
of his recent spoils, retired from the field — perhaps to 
go into hibernation for the winter. But not so fast ! 
On the 14th of January 1804, about three weeks after 
the marriage, Mr. Patterson, the bride's father, feels 
the force of another anonymous missile, hurled at him 
with considerable violence, by some Frenchman, if 
we credit his own story, who appeared quite illiterate, 
perhaps as far only as handling the British language 
was concerned. 

" Sir," writes he, dating as above, " this is to 
inform you as a friend that you must be aware of 
your son-in-law, as you may now turn him, Bonaparty, 
for he has made his brags and boastings, before his 
marriage, that he would get married to your daughter, 
and then * * * * he would leave her and go home 
to his brother in France. This he has told in public 
company before several ; and likewise that when he 
goes to France, he will still be a single man, and she 
may then go to the devil for all he cares ; and I and 
many others you may be assured must think the same 
— certainly of such a French fop of a fool. So there- 
fore, as a friend, I warn you of him in time, as he 
has declared the above. Your friend, A Frenchman." 

Though coming from anonymous writers, the most 
contemptible class of characters that afnict society, 
these letters, in the light of surrounding circumstances, 
must have been very painful to Mr. Patterson. About 
this time Mr. Robert Patterson, his son, proceeds to 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 33 

France, and Jerome takes his bride to Washington 
City, to visit General Tuerreau, the French Envoy to 
this country. On their way thither, in the rough 
coaches of the times, their experience must have been 
quite lively. Under date of Sunday, February 5th, 
1804, General Samuel Smith, of Maryland, then in 
Congress, writes to the bride's father in Baltimore, as 
follows : — " Dear sir : Betsy's great presence of mind 
and firmness of character preserved her last night. 
Coming in after night, the coachman was thrown from 
the box. Mr. Bonaparte jumped out, but could not 
stop the horses. They went on, but regularly. Find- 
ing her danger increased, she opened the door, and 
jumped out into the snow, without receiving any 
injury." 

On the subject of the marriage, Mr. Patterson, the 
bride's father, addresses a letter to Hon. Robert R. 
Livingston, of New York, American Minister to 
France, resident in Paris : 

" Sir," writes he, dating Baltimore, February 10th 
1804, " I take the liberty of enclosing you two letters 
that were transmitted to me from the Department of 
State at Washington, relating to the late marriage of 
Mr. Jerome Bonaparte with my daughter. The object 
of these letters, as I am informed, is to give you 
information on that subject, that you may be pre- 
pared to explain or repel any unfavorable or undue 
impression it might make on the mind of the First 
Consul, or any of the family, as it respects the heads 
of department, or myself. I am sorry I was not per- 
sonally known to you in this country, as it might 



34 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

have facilitated my wishes of reconciling Mr. Bona- 
parte's friends to the steps he has taken ; yet I can 
assure you with truth, that I never, directly nor 
indirectly, countenanced or gave Mr. Bonaparte the 
smallest encouragement to address my daughter ; but 
on the contrary, resisted his pretensions by every 
means in my power consistent with discretion. Find- 
ing, however, that the mutual attachment they had 
formed for each other was such, that nothing short 
of force and violence could prevent their union, I 
with much reluctance consented to their wishes. It 
is, however, now equally my duty and inclination to 
give the event that has taken place the best possible 
direction it is susceptible of; and for this purpose, 
and to reconcile Mr. Bonaparte's family to the match 
as far as may be practicable, may I therefore request 
your friendly attention in a suitable representation 
of the contents of these letters I Kave now the honor 
of enclosing you ? and if necessary, and you should 
think it proper, that you will have the goodness to 
furnish the First Consul with copies of the President's 
and Secretary's letters to you ; but this must be left 
entirely to your discretion, as I know not whether it 
would be perfectly proper or not. You will particu- 
larly oblige me by advising me of the result of your 
communications with Mr. Bonaparte's family; and 
whether his marriage is likely to meet with their 
approbation or not. I have the honor to be, with 
great respect, sir, your most humble servant." 

It does not appear that Mr. Patterson had copies 
of the letters from the Department of State at Wash- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIA GE. 35 

ington which he transmitted to Mr. Livingston at 
Paris ; but in his own letter quoted above, he clearly 
states their object, and copies cannot be given here. 

Thinkers in the United States appeared to be 
puzzled to determine the course the " Regulator of 
Europe'' would take for revenge on account of 
Jerome's marriage to an American lady. Gossip, 
however, took high ground, and dealt largely in 
rumors, hailing from Paris and from Washington, to 
the effect that after a conquest of Britain, Napoleon 
would turn his arms against the United States. 

This wedding stood perhaps without a parallel 
since ike mythic days of old Troy, when the son of 
Priam, destined from his birth to set all Ilium in 
flames, was promised by the fickle Goddess of Beauty 
the fairest woman in the world for his wife. Helen, 
whom the multitudinous gods of Greece had endowed 
with the most extraordinary charms, when dancing at 
a festival in the Temple of Diana, was seized on 
account of her beauty and carried off by Theseus; 
but after a time was rescued and brought back by her 
brothers, Castor and Pollux. Rejecting an army of 
distinguished suitors, she at last become the w T ife of 
Menelaus, King of Sparta; but beauty, one of the 
greatest afflictions that can fall to the lot of a young 
lady, would not let her rest with a king. Paris, the 
gay and adventurous son of King Priam, travelling 
in the territories of Greece, violated the hospitalities 
of Sparta, and kindled the flames of war by carrying 
off Helen as his promised beauty ; and a war of ten 
years' duration was waged against Troy, which re- 



36 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

suited in the destruction of the city and the restora- 
tion of Helen. French and American gossip therefore 
maintained that, but for the war between France and 
England at the time of Jerome's marriage, the French 
arms, on this account, would have been turned against 
the United States ; and in leading to battle the armies 
of a great nation to revenge a marriage, Napoleon, in 
his fury, would have figured before the enlightened 
juries of another era as the full-blown antitype of 
Agamemnon. 

Is swift scuds of war appeared to fly across the 
canopies of imagination, Mr. Robert Patterson landed 
in France to inspect the signs of the times, and if 
possible feel the pulse of Napoleon on the subject of 
his sister's marriage. He arrived in Paris on the 
11th day of March 1804. On the 12th he addressed 
a letter to his father in Baltimore. 

"I arrived here yesterday," writes he, dating as 
above, " and immediately waited on our Minister. I 
found that in consequence of letters received from 
Mr. Madison and General Smith, he was making 
every exertion to reconcile Bonaparte to his brother's 
marriage. He has stated to the brothers of the 
Consul and the other distinguished characters about 
the court, that Mr. Jerome Bonaparte could not in 
America have made a more respectable connection 
than he has made ; and to think of annulling his 
marriage would be scandalizing the most sacred of 
human engagements. 

" Bonaparte is of a very irritable temper, and as 
he is at present highly incensed with his brother, he 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 37 

might, were he here, take some violent measures with 
him — still, Mr. Livingston thinks he will after awhile 
become better satisfied with the union ; and as he 
has by his conduct hitherto uniformly endeavored to 
impress on the world the highest idea of his moral 
character, he will not lightly, in this present affair, 
do anything to impeach or bring that character in 
question. 

" When the account of Mr. Jerome Bonaparte's 
intentions first reached the consular ear, he had de- 
termined to recall him instantly. Since the marriage 
has taken place, I believe it is his intention he should 
remain in America for some time. Mr. Joseph Bo- 
naparte has consulted Mr. Livingston respecting the 
most eligible place for Jerome to reside at, and spoke 
of making a provision for him by investing 100,000 
crowns in the American funds, but wished to know 
what Mr. Livingston thought necessary. Mr. Living- 
ston observed, he ought in the first place to have a 
town-house to cost about $30,000, and that a country- 
seat was indispensable to retire to in case of a yellow 
fever, which he estimated at $25,000; and that to 
support this establishment, it would require from 
twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars per annum. To 
this the other replied, they intended he should live 
in America as a citizen of the United States, and 
they thought the calculation was much too high. I 
wish most sincerely Mr. Livingston may prevail on 
Mr. Bonaparte's friends to invest a sufficiency in our 
stocks to produce $20,000 per annum, as with that 
income he may live as happily in America as in 



38 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Europe ; and I am convinced Mr. Livingston will 
endeavor to fix the sum as high as possible, should 
the scheme of investing a sum in the stocks of the 
United States for his permanent support be finally 
determined on. Mr. Livingston intends demanding 
an audience, when he will deliver Jerome Bonaparte's 
letter to the Consul which announces his marriage. 
This is the letter you sent Mr. Monroe. Mr. Living- 
ston will do all in his power to reconcile him to the 
marriage. For the present, it will be much better 
the parties should remain in America ; but should he 
be directed to return, I am clearly of opinion she 
ought to accompany him, as, his being here and with- 
out her, his affection might possibly suffer a diminu- 
tion, which would be very dangerous in the present 
situation of things ; and in case of not being recog- 
nised by his friends, which is placing it in the most 
possible point of view, she would have an asylum in 
the house of our Minister. 

" I brought letters from Miss Monroe to Madame 
Louis Bonaparte, who was at the same academy with 
her, and to Madame Campan, their preceptor. This 
lady is sister to Grenet, and is very intimate with the 
consular family. Mr. Skipwith is also very intimate 
with this lady, and has promised to introduce me to 
her. From her situation, she has it in her power, 
and will most probably be useful, as Miss Monroe 
speaks to her in the highest terms of my sister. 

" This is intended to go by a Mr. Hinch, who goes 
direct to Baltimore from Bordeaux. He leaves this 
place early in the morning. In the course of a few 



THE BONAPARTE-PA TTERSON JfABBIA GE. 39 

days I trust it will be in my power to give you some 
more satisfactory information. In the interim, I re- 
main yours very affectionately.'' 

It will be discovered that Mr. Robert Patterson, 
on reaching Paris, engaged immediately in the most 
delicate diplomacy. For the information of youthful 
readers, w r e will state that Minister Livingston, whom 
Mr. Patterson so frequently mentions in the above 
letter, was Chancellor Livingston, of New York, who, 
on the 30th of April 1789, administered the oath of 
office to General Washington, first President of the 
United States, on the balcony of the old Federal Hall 
in New York City. From Miss Monroe in England, 
daughter of Hon. James Monroe, then Minister to 
the Court of London, Mr. Patterson brought letters 
to Madame Louis Bonaparte, who was at the same 
academy with her, and to Madame Campan their 
preceptress, who had also been the preceptress of 
Jerome. This lady was the sister of Citizen Genet, 
w T ho, during the administration of Washington, was 
the French Minister to this country, and who subse- 
quently married the daughter of De Witt Clinton, 
of New York. Mr. Patterson met in/Paris Fulwar 
Skipwith, Esq., Commercial Agonj/of the United 
States to France, and Paul Bentalou of Baltimore, 
who, during the Revolutionary War, was a distin- 
guished officer in Count Pulaski's Legion of Cavalry. 
In the person of Captain Bentalou Mr. Patterson 
found a faithful friend, and an able interpreter of the 
French language. 



CHAPTER II. 

Biographical sketch ot the memoers of the Bonaparte 
family — Thoughts on Jerome's marriage — Robert Patterson's 
second letter — Hopes of reconciliation — Jerome to be estab- 
lished in America — Lucien Bonaparte's opinions — Paul Ben- 
talou's hopeful letter — Dining with Lucien — Napoleon's dis- 
pleasure manifest — Stirring appeal to arms — Britain to be 
conquered — Mr. Patterson's third letter — Mr. Livingston again 
— A call on Joseph Bonaparte — He is silent — Lucien' s char- 
acter — Silence in France— Robert goes to Amsterdam — French 
frigates plough towards New York — Napoleon's silence broken 
— Pichon in New York — French captains and the u young 
person/' 

As the names of the Bonaparte family are so fre- 
quently mentioned in the following pages, we depart 
from our main subject to give a short biographical 
sketch of each member belonging to it, at the time 
of Jerome's marriage. Carlo Bonaparte, of the island 
of Corsica, was the father of the Bonapartes of France. 
He was born in Ajaccio, the capital city of that 
island, on the 29th of March 1746. At that time 
the island was under the government of Genoa. Carlo 
studied law at the university of Pisa, and became one 
of the most popular jurists of his times. When 
about eighteen years of age, he fell in love with 
Letkia Ramolino, then in her fourteenth year ; but 
in the Corsican war to throw off the yoke of Genoa, 
he was a Paolist, and she of the Genoese party ; and 
for this reason their marriage did not take place for 

(40) 



TEL B ON A PAR TE-PA TTE RSON 31 A RBI A GE. 41 

several years later. In 1769, Corsica submitted to 
the dominion of France, and the children of Carlo 
Bonaparte were therefore born French subjects. 

Joseph, the first child of Carlo and Letizia, was 
born at Corte, on the island of Corsica, January 7th 

1768, and died in Florence, July 28th 1844. He was 
educated at Autun and Pisa, studied law at Ajaccio, 
and became a member of General Paoli's cabinet in 
1792. He was married to the daughter of Monsieur 
Clary, a wealthy banker of Marseilles, who made his 
money as a ship broker. In 1797, he was elected 
from his native island to the Council of Five Hundred 
at Paris ; but was soon sent by the French Directory 
as Ambassador to the Court of Rome. While Napo- 
leon was in Egypt, Joseph returned from Rome, re- 
sumed his seat in the Council ; and with his brother 
Lucien, inaugurated the scheme, which conducted 
Napoleon to the First Consulship of France. The suc- 
cess of this scheme made Joseph Chief Councillor of 
State ; which office he held at the time of his brother 
Jerome's marriage. Coming to America about the 
year 1816, after the downfall of Napoleon, Joseph 
resided near Bordentown, New Jersey, till the year 
1842. His park and grounds there comprised about 
1500 acres of land ; and his mansion was enriched 
with the most exquisite works of art in painting and 
sculpture, for the gratification of himself and friends. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, second son of Carlo and Le- 
tizia, was born at Ajaccio, on the 15th of August 

1769, and died on the island of St. Helena, May 5th 
1821. Like other boys, Napoleon when quite young 



42 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

took great delight in following companies of soldiers ; 
and soon distinguished himself among his fellows by 
drilling them in stone-battles, and teaching them 
artillery practice by the use of a small brass cannon. 
He w T as principally educated at the royal college in 
his native city, the college of Autun, and the military 
school at Brienne, where he was generally unpopular 
on account of a morose and thoughtful temper of mind, 
operating as in search of some medium through which 
it could spy out the future. As a boy, he seldom 
formed strong attachments, or communicated his 
secrets to others, evincing in this respect a remarkable 
and unusual caution. Completing his studies at the 
military school in Paris, he was made a lieutenant in 
the French army ; and, distinguished as a mathe- 
matician and military engineer, he rapidly promoted 
himself, stepping from one rank to another, with ease, 
if convenient, or with force, if necessary. He fell 
far behind the general literary accomplishments of his 
contemporaries of like rank, caring little or nothing 
for those sciences which adorn and enrich the heart ; 
yet we find him, at a very early age, stealing interviews 
with a young lady, and indulging in the sentimental 
by eating with her certain "innocent cherries. " He 
commenced writing a history of the island of Cor- 
sica, and submitted a sample of his work to the inspec- 
tion of General Paoli, but failed to finish it for some 
reason not given. In 1792, he was made a captain 
of artillery, a colonel of infantry in 1793, and in 
1794 a brigadier-general of artillery. From these 
beginnings he made the most rapid strides towards 



THE B ON A PA R TE- PA TTERS ON MARR I A GE. 43 

supremacy ; and whether or not Europe in his day- 
stood in need of such a character, he was empha- 
tically the breaker of hardshells, and the nurse of 
new-fledged monarchies. Becoming suddenly armed 
with the most extraordinary powers, he confused the 
boldest thinkers; broke ancient lines at will, unseating, 
and, if we may be allowed the expression, unworlding, 
the kings of Europe in his march. 

On the 9th of March 1796, when within a few 
strides of the summit of his fame and glory as the 
master of Europe, he married Josephine Beauharnais, 
a beautiful native of the island of Martinique ; and in 
less than a week after left her in France to take com- 
mand of the army of Italy, then lying in the defiles 
of the Alps and the Ligurian Apeninnes. In 1797 
he returned to Paris as the " Liberator of Italy;" 
having in the campaign w T on a number of the most 
brilliant victories on record, making the French arms 
formidable to the world. On the 16th of December 
1809 his obedient Senate passed at command an act 
divorcing him from his wife, and poor Josephine re- 
tired broken-hearted to Malmaison ; and from that 
hour the star of Napoleon's glory began to aecline. 

Unlike the sacred biographers, those of our day 
drop at each successive step a few words of censure 
from the characters of their respective heroes until 
all are gone, and they are at last made to stand forth 
before another generation purified by the pen. Thus 
bad great men who fail to obtain justification at the 
hands of a generation which they have injured, are 
led to hope for a cleansing ablution in the dynamic 



44 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

current of history. Casting his swaths of dying men 
behind him, Napoleon mowed his way to thrones 
regardless perhaps of even the accusing voice of 
history, or the warnings from an eternal hereafter ; 
yet he knew the busy pen would labor through long 
centuries to purify his character, and engrave his 
name on the star-clad heights of canonization. Such 
Was the man with whom Jerome's wife must deal. 

Lucien Bonaparte, another son of Carlo, was born 
May 19th 1775, and died at Viterbo, July 29th 1840. 
In 1797 he was also elected to the Council of Five 
Hundred, and in 1800 he was sent Ambassador to 
Spain. His first wife was the daughter of an inn- 
keeper at Toulon. These parties for a few years 
lived very unhappy together, and in 1797 she died of 
ill treatment and neglect on the part of her husband, 
who in 1803 was married the second time to the 
widow Jourbothon, a rich banker. Refusing to par- 
ticipate in Napoleon's imperial designs, he went to 
Italy in 1804, where he lived in great style ; and it 
will be seen that this fact is mentioned in some of the 
letters relating to Jerome's marriage. 

Elisa Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, was born 
January 3d 1777, and died on the 7th of August 
1820. In 1797, she married M. Bacciochi, a noble- 
man, hailing from her native island. In 1805, she 
was made Princess of Lucca and Piombino ; and such 
she was when her name was written in cipher by Mr. 
Robert Patterson in the correspondence relating to 
his sister's marriage to Jerome. 

Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I. and 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 45 

father of Napoleon III., was born on the 2d day of 
September 1778, and died at Leghorn, July 25th 
1846. At an early age, he entered the French army, 
and was with Napoleon in Egypt. On the 7th day 
of January 1802, the 34th anniversary of his brother 
Joseph's birth, he married Hortensp Eugenia Beau- 
harnais, Queen of Holland. This he did in compliance 
with the wishes of Napoleon ; but the union was very 
unhappy ; and, estranged from the affections of her 
husband, she subsequently lived a dissolute life in 
Paris. When the empire of France was declared in 

1805, Louis was made Governor of Piedmont, and in 

1806, King of Holland. 

Paulina Bonaparte, another sister of Napoleon, was 
born October 20th 1780, and died in Florence, June 
9th 1825. In 1797, she married General Leclerc, 
the commander of the expedition against St. Domingo. 
This lady was styled " the extraordinary perfection 
of beauty." General Leclerc died in/1802, and in 
1803, Paulina married Camillo Borghese, but their 
domestic life was unhappy, and they soon separated. 

Carolina Bonaparte, the youngest sister of the 
family, was born on the 26th of March 1782, and 
died May 18th 1839. She married General Murat, 
the son of an hostler at an inn, but was made Queen 
of Naples in 1808. 

It will be seen now, that, at the time of Jerome's 
marriage, the Bonaparte family consisted of Letizia, 
the mother, and eight children, viz. : Joseph, Napo- 
leon, Louis, Lucien, Jerome, Elisa, Paulina, and 
Carolina. Napoleon was the chief of the family, not 



46 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

however by seniority, but by fortune. 4 Feeling him- 
self the acknowledged master of Europe, proudly sup- 
ported on his pedestal of fame, he conducted an un- 
licensed traffic in crowns; and, holding his sceptre 
over a vast empire of mind also, he unsettled the 
domestic tranquillity of individuals, and loosened the 
morals of his age. He dealt profanely with the insti- 
tution of marriage, whose foundation, he knew, had 
been divinely laid in some grand primeval age, when 
Love sung her holy lullabies over the first forms of life, 
and the harmonies of Heaven responded. Trifling 
with the institution of marriage must sooner or later 
bring upon the trifler a punishment equal to that 
which once came down to check the drinking of un- 
hallowed wine from the Holy Grails of Jerusalem. If 
Jerome had been left free to deal with his own mar- 
riage, and meet its responsibilities, in his individual 
capacity, the world of eyes would have discovered his 
real character, and received a profit from the disco- 
very. On approaching Napoleon, ostensibly for the 
purposes of reconciliation, it will be seen that the 
young man was further demoralized by the unholy 
light thrown upon his marriage, and the imperial raid 
upon family altars built over the up-welling fountains 
of feminine purity. 

The young adventurer was commercially and socially 
a citizen of the United States. Politically and legally 
he was a citizen of France. He could not have been 
held to military duty in the United States, for this 
would have been in antagonism to the claims of his 
native country, to which he owed allegiance, or, per- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 47 

haps, it would have been in violation of treaty stipu- 
lations. 

Commercial and social contracts entered into in 
compliance with the statutes and usages of one nation, 
have invariably been held as binding in another ; and 
this rule has been more particularly observed with 
respect to marital contracts. The same principles are 
also recognised by states, or political divisions of na- 
tions. Parties, therefore, finding the laws of one 
state hostile to their marital negotiations, have gone 
into another to complete them ; but on their return 
at pleasure, have not been charged with a violation 
of the law of domicile. In order to the validity of 
contracts, it has not been deemed necessary that the 
parties thereto should take an oath of allegiance to 
the constitution and government of the country, or 
division of country, in which they may temporarily 
reside at the time of making them; but on leaving 
such nation or state, in which their contracts were 
made, to go to the place of their nativity, or else- 
where, " their works do follow them." When Mr. 
Dallas drew up Jerome's marriage contract, he did 
not deem an oath of allegiance to the country, or any 
form of naturalization whatever, necessary in order 
to its fulfilment. A compliance with the laws of the 
state of Maryland, a state to which the organic law 
of the nation, of which it w T as a division, had guaran- 
teed a certain degree of sovereignty, and a compliance 
with the divine ritual of the church of his choice, 
were the only conditions necessary to the entire valid- 
ity of the marriage contract, and the marriage itself; 



48 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

and nothing short of violence could sunder the parties 
in any nation. During the residence of Jerome in 
America, it is not clearly seen how either his contracts 
or his torts, or his minority, could violate the laws of 
France. He might have violated them in the act of 
coming hither, in the length of his stay, in the neglect 
of French interests, or the destruction of French pro- 
perty in his custody, so as to incur a punishment ju 
his return ; but the laws of France, should he return, 
could not, we think, operate upon him, so as to annul 
a contract made on American soil solely in his indi- 
vidual capacity. If a Frenchman under twenty or 
even twenty-five years of age, could not marry in his 
own country without the consent of his parents or 
guardians, did the statutes of France declare at that 
time, or at any other, he could not, or must not, 
should he happen to go there, do so in another coun- 
try, over which the French flag did not display itself? 
We think not. Can an individual contract made on 
American soil in strict compliance with the laws of 
the country, be set aside so as to destroy its binding 
effect in every nation ? Napoleon did put the French 
statutes in motion in his Council of State, to annul 
the marriage of Jerome ; but may we not venture to 
assert that he failed for want of an offence ? In calling 
his Council for action upon this subject, we think it 
was more the object of Napoleon to create, than to 
punish an offence. An attempt to nullify a contract 
is a virtual admission of its validity. As a jurist, he 
had already declared that the marriage, as far as the 
laws of France were concerned, was null and void. 



THE B0NAPAR7 E-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 40 

This all men admitted, for the marriage did not take 
place in France. Why then employ a grave council 
of state to nullify that which was already a nullity ? 
This is what thinkers thought. If a marriage solem- 
nized in America w^as valid in Rome, why was it not 
valid also in Paris ? The same authority which sanc- 
tioned its validity in the United States did the same 
in France. But the act of nullification was rashly 
passed in Paris, perhaps, before a ray of holy light 
from the Court of Rome had fairly touched an out- 
line of the subject. No violations of French statutes 
had taken place on French soil, nor upon the high 
seas under Gallic colors ; and so, we think the Pope 
of Rome thought. What therefore could he say under 
the circumstances, and what co^rfd he consistently do ? 
He was called upon to anathematize something, which 
never had been, nor never could be construed into a 
violation of either civil or ecclesiastical law in any coun- 
try. He persistently refused to sanction by his au- 
thority the rash act of the French Council ; and when 
Jerome knocked for admission at the gates of France, 
around his marriage clustered all the force and majesty 
of law. 

Returning from our temporary digression, we take 
up the line of our subject by stating that Mr. Robert 
Patterson's first letter from France to his father in 
Baltimore, quoted in the preceding chapter, was 
dated Paris, March 12th 1804. Under date of the 
14th of the same month he writes again from the 
same place: 

" Dear Father : I wrote you on the 12th inst., 



50 THE B ON A PAR TE-PA TTERSON 3IARRIA GE. 

acquainting you with my arrival here on the preced- 
ing day, and giving you what information I had col- 
lected relative to what brought me hither. 

" I am happy to have it now in my power to say 
something more satisfactory on the same subject. On 
returning to my apartments this morning, after an 
absence from them for a few minutes, I found a note 
from Mr. Lucien Bonaparte, couched in the most 
polite terms, requesting I would call on hirri, which I 
accordingly did, taking Avith me Mr. Bentalou. He 
told us the Consul was displeased w T ith his brother's 
marriage, but that himself, his mother, and the rest 
of the family were very glad of it; and that since he 
was married he must treat his wife with tenderness 
and affection. They wish him to become a citizen of 
the United States, and intend purchasing a quantity 
of the American funds for him. I believe it is not 
intended that he shall have any control over anything 
more than the interest of whatever sum may be 
invested in this manner, but rather suspect some 
other person will be appointed to hold them in trust 
for him, and that person will most probably be your- 
self. I am not sorry Jerome is to remain in America, 
as I consider he will be just as well there as in 
Europe. From what I have here stated you will per- 
ceive things are in as fortunate a train as we possibly 
could have expected. Mr. Bentalou and myself are 
to dine with Mr. Lucien Bonaparte to-morrow. I 
shall send this to Bordeaux to be forwarded." 

This letter was not received at Bordeaux until the 
31st day of March. On the same day, it was for- 



THE B OX A PA 11 TE-PA T TEES OX MAMMA GE. 51 

warded, by Messrs. Andrews & Cooke, for America ; 
and Count Pulaski's old captain, Paul Bentalou, of 
Baltimore, then in Paris, as previously stated, next 
writes to Mr. Patterson, the bride's father. 

Dating Paris, March 16th 1804, he begins : " I wish 
with all my heart that this, which I will forward by 
duplicate, may reach you with all possible speed, with 
my most sincere and heartfelt congratulations to'you 
and Mrs. Patterson on the glad tidings, I am autho- 
rized and indeed particularly requested to impart to 
you. Your son Robert, will tell you that since his 
arrival, we have together been very active, and to 
him I leave the task of relating to you the particulars 
of what passed with our Minister, Mr. Livingston ; 
which upon the whole were of an alarming and 
desponding nature, and terminated by telling your 
son that the displeasure of the whole family was mani- 
fest, and of a nature, he feared, not to be overcome ; 
and that, after having freely communicated with 
Joseph, the only favor he could obtain was, that your 
son could, privately and alone, go to see him, and that 
he would give his porter orders accordingly 1*1 confess 
I felt shocked at the proposal ! and observed with 
some warmth that I thought it would be unbecoming 
for your son to introduce himself in that mysterious 
way, and perhaps meet with a humiliating reception ; 
and that as the whole family were now apprised of 
his being here, if any of them wished to see him, it 
was in their place to express it. Upon this the Minis- 
ter made some observation which I pass in silence, 
and was glad to find your son perfectly to coincide 



52 THE BONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MARRIAGE. 

with my opinion — the more so, as in a short time after 
we had left the Minister's house, your son returned to 
me with a note from Lucien of which this is the literal 
translation : Mr. and Mrs. Lucien Bonaparte are 
extremely desirous to have the pleasure of seeing Mr. 
Patterson, brother-in-law of Mr. Jerome. They ivill 
both remain at home the whole morning in hopes he 
will have the goodness to call on them. — Dated 23d 
Ventose, 14th of March. We instantly got ready, 
and together were admitted into a private room, where 
we found Mr. Lucien, and told him as I knew he could 
not speak English, neither could your son speak 
French, I as an intimate friend of the family had 
taken the liberty of accompanying him. We were 
received with all possible affability. Through me, he 
addressed your son in the most flattering manner, and 
in a strain which conveyed every appearance of can- 
dor and sincerity. Our conversation lasted a long 
time, the essential part of which I will now endeavor 
to relate in his own words-: 

" He said to me, Tell Mr. Patterson, and let his 
father know, that our mother, myself and the whole 
family, with one voice, and as heartily as I do, highly 
approve of the match. The Consul, it is trice, does 
not for the present concur with us, but he is to be con- 
sidered as isolated from his family. Placed on the 
lofty ground on which he stands as the first magistrate 
of a great and powerful nation, all his actions and 
ideas are directed by a policy with ivhich we have 
nothing to do. We still remain plain citizens ; and, 
as such, from all we have learned of the young lady's 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 53 

character and the respectability of her friends, ive are, 
and feel highly gratified with the connection — that they 
need not in the least be hurt by the displeasure of the 
Consul ; that myself although of an age to be my own 
master, and occupying distinguished places under the 
government, I have also, by my late marriage, incur- 
red his displeasure, so that Jerome is not alone. But, 
as ivhen we do marry, tve are to consult our own hap- 
piness and not that of another, it matters not who else 
is, or is not, to be displeased. Our present earnest 
wish is that Jerome may remain where he now is, and 
take the proper steps to become, as soon as possible, a 
citizen of the United States. 

"Here I interrupted him by observing that it was 
not such an easy matter as he perhaps thought — that 
it required an ordeal of seven years previous thereto ; 
and that then he would have formally to swear fidelity 
to the United States, and to a renunciation of all 
titles of nobility, places of honor or profit, allegiance 
or attachment to all other countries, and particularly 
to the one of his nativity. 

" Very well, retorted Lucien, Jerome must do all 
that ; he must go through that noviciate. The dignified 
attainment of a citizen of the United States is well 
toortli it. His situation is much preferable to ours. 
We are yet on a tempestuous sea, and he is safely 
moored into a safe, and incomparably happy harbor. 
He must positively change his mode of living, and 
must not, as he has hitherto done, act the part of a, 
prince of royal blood ; not to think himself anything 
more than he really is, and to strive as soon as possible 



54 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

to assimilate himself to the plain and uncorrupted 
manners of your incomparable nation, of which we 
will all rejoice to see him a ivorthy member. We are 
now making arrangements to provide genteelly for 
him. We wish him to live on equal footing with your 
most respectable citizens, but never beyond any of 
them. 

" He then gave me to understand that they had taken 
pains to inquire what would be necessary, and it seems 
they are thinking of giving him a country house, and 
a house in town, and 'an annual income of fifteen 
thousand dollars. He asked my advice upon that, 
and I told him I thought the allowance fully adequate. 
He added that as they wished to have a permanent 
capital lodged in America, they had ajteady applied 
to purchase of the newly created funds for the Louis- 
iana acquisition, and found that they were above par. 
I observed to him that probably, in a short time, they 
would have a chance of purchasing under par from 
American claimants, now in distress in Paris, some of 
the bills to be issued by bur Minister ; and that by 
remitting to you whatever they may have a mind to 
send, they cannot place it in more safe hands, nor 
more judicious, to invest advantageously ; either in 
public funds, bank, or insurance stocks, than under 
your direction. In short, my dear sir, I think they 
will send that way much more than necessary to pro- 
vide for Jerome. 

" We were asked to dine there on the next day, 
which was yesterday. He was not in when we were 
introduced, but we were equally well received by his 



TEE BONAP ARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 55 

lady and family. Shortly after, he came in, and very 
soon invited us into a private apartment"; when, after 
having reiterated generally what he had said on the 
previous day, on which I had taken occasion of telling 
him of your son's proper reluctance to appear before 
his brother Joseph in the manner advised by our Minis- 
ter, he reminded me of it; and said that he had con- 
versed with his brother on the subject, and was 
directed by him to assure us that the Minister had cer- 
tainly misunderstood him. That he had said that ? 
from the etiquette established by the higher authority, 
none of the family could allow any foreign minister 
to introduce to them any person who had not been pre- 
viously introduced to the First Consul ; but that his 
brother Joseph was very anxious to see Mr. Patterson ; 
that he had just left his house before ive came in, and 
desired him to tell us that he had gone to Malmaison 
to remain there with the. Consul till this evening, and 
that to-morroio at tivelve he ivill expect us. I shall 
attend your son there, and leave to him the care of 
relating to you the result, which I have no doubt will 
be as satisfactory as the two interviews w T e have 
already had with Lucien. 

" I beg you, and you will see the propriety of keep- 
ing to yourself, that part of my narrative which relates 
to our Minister, for I assure you I would not, for any 
consideration, have said anything that would in any 
way offend him. He and his family are extremely 
kind to myself and Mrs. Bentalou, as they generally 
are to all their fellow-citizens ; and I can with truth 
assure you, that in this affair he has evinced a zeal so 



56 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

as to deserve your manifest gratitude. But you will 
perceive that as matters stood, and as I have above 
related, in his official capacity, he could not act. It 
required a plain individual, acquainted with both lan- 
guages, to conduct your son to that source of informa- 
tion without which it were impossible your mind could 
have been content. 

" I now conclude in assuring you that no man can 
more sincerely rejoice than I do at our happy success, 
or more affectionately at your service, than your friend 
and well-wisher. 

" Reading over my letter, I perceive I have omitted 
to mention to you, that Lucien informed "me, and re- 
quested me particularly to tell you, that yesterday 
their despatches for Jerome were sent away ; that the 
Consul, as Consul, caused his Minister to direct the 
Charge d' Affaires in the United States to express his 
displeasure to Jerome, which must be considered by 
you as a matter of form ; but that by the same con- 
veyance, Jerome would receive from his family com- 
fortable letters, and such as all of you can wish for. 
It is wished that the picture of your daughter may be 
sent to them as soon as possible." 

The views of Lucien as given by Captain Bentalou 
in the preceding letter may have been obtained by re- 
flection from the chief of the family, but their diplo- 
macy in this case, as in all others, we think, left the 
observer at a loss to determine whether light breezes 
only, or deep and angry thunders, were betokened. 
Quick as the compound which rendered his artillery 
deadly, uncertain also as the flash which blasts the 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA T TEES ON MA RRIA GE. 57 

grand old oak in summer, and for ever restless in search 
of affinities, Napoleon's temper would flash fearfully 
even in the pursuit of small game ; and, like the met- 
tled steed of antiquity, bound along where there were 
paths, and where there were none. Like the ancient 
penman's mountain in convulsions to release a little 
mouse from life in embryo, thinkers began to think, 
that he would establish from his course of conduct 
with respect to Jerome's marriage, some novel and 
ridiculous precedent that -would operate to his discredit 
down the long ages. It was thought by some that 
Jerome would not be allowed to escape the punitive 
force of the consular will, if nothing more was done 
than to adopt the pathless course of treating him as 
a deserter from the naval service of France. About 
this time, Napoleon set the blood of France on fire, 
by the most stirring appeals to arms that the vehicle 
of language could convey, which it was thought would 
lure Jerome, peacefully, from fidelity to his wife into 
the fields of glory. 

'Soldiers!" says Order No. 39, issued from head 
quarters of the centre, " the sea is passed ! The bound- 
aries of nature have yielded to the genius and for- 
tune 'of the hero, the saviour of France ! and 
haughty England already groans under the yoke 
of her conquerors ! London is before you ! That 
Peru of the old world is your prey ! Within twenty 
days I plant the tri-colored flag on the walls of 
her execrable tower ! March : the road to victory 
is open. In order to render that happy victory cer- 
tain and inevitable, your commander here offers you 
some advice, Brave Centre, at the same time that he 
4 



58 THE B ONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

renews, upon enemy's soil, the sacred promises that 
you have already twice received from the august head 
of the state. 

" Once more I pledge the faith of government, 
which only reserves to itself, among the enormous 
treasures that you are on the eve of conquering, the 
arms and fleets of the enemy ; while ft destines their 
monuments of the arts to decorate the temples of the 
capital of the world, and to become an eternal record 
of your victories. Towns, fields, provisions, cattle, 
gold and silver — I abandon all to you ! Occupy those 
noble mansions, those smiling farms. The properties, 
the families of your enemies are all your own — all is 
destined for your wealth, or for your enjoyment. An 
impure race, rejected by heaven, and which has dared 
to be the enemy of Bonaparte, will expiate its crimes 
by disappearing from the 'earth. Yes, I swear to 
you, that you shall soon become terrible ! 

" Soon — and the hour of a just retribution already 
strikes — the signal shall be given. Expect it in the 
posture of a tiger, and observe also his silence : then 
spring upon your prey, give way to your feelings, 
take your enjoyments, and gather without risk the 
mellow fruits of victory ; all will then become your 
duty except senseless pity, equally unjust to your 
country and cruel to injured humanity. May the 
enemy of France perish to its foundation ! May the 
name of England be lost and forgotten. Know that 
Heaven and the First Consul have conspired for its 
ruin and total oblivion. Then may that guilty island, 
formerly wrested by the sea from France, purged from 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 59 

the monsters that inhabit it, return within its legiti- 
mate boundaries, having expiated its numberless crimes. 
May it be regenerated by that master-stroke of policy 
that can only render it worthy of becoming once more 
a portion of the continent, and a province of France. 
Perhaps its proud conquerors may not disdain to 
carry to it their generous race. Perhaps they may 
derive a sentiment of joy from compelling the wives 
and daughters of the conquered to give Frenchmen 
to France. Soldiers ! the country is your own ! My 
brave companions, let those inhabit it who will. It is 
Bonaparte who gives me authority to insure to every 
one who desires to reside in these beautiful plains as 
faithful colonists of France a house, furniture and 
lands ; in short, a lot, splendid and secure. They 
shall, moreover, be permitted to carry off without 
molestation every article of which they may be pos- 
sessed at the disbanding of the army, not excepting 
the women of the enemy whom they may honor with 
their partiality." 

We think it will be seen hereafter that the above 
appeal, and the like, were part of the vast machinery 
employed to fire the heart of Jerome, and thus quietly 
bring him from America. To throw as much light 
on this strange subject as possible, we again make a 
short digression into the wilds, by remarking that the 
First Consul, perched upon a giddy spire of nobility, 
had resolved to force each of his brothers to marry 
some European princess ; and that, at this time, the 
views of marriage entertained by a certain class of 
adventurers into American society were often as 



60 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

sickly as odors fresh from the blooming ailanthus, or 
the deleterious upas. It was not therefore very- 
strange that some men thought Jerome would yield 
to argument by leaving his wife in America to marry a 
European princess, and receive as a reward a king- 
dom in Britain, after the tri-colored flag was planted 
on the execrable tower of London. It was impossible 
to discover Jerome's own motives, or how far they 
might go to unsettle or change the consular purposes 
with respect to his marriage. His character, antece- 
dents and designs down to that time appeared to be 
but little known in America, except what anonymous 
writers declared ; but the word he, and the only one 
italicised by the writer, did not probably fail in time 
to have its effect upon the mind of the reader. It 
appears evident that upon hearing of his marriage, 
the Bonaparte family in concert determined that Je- 
rome should remain in America, and mingle no longer 
in the society of France. Lucien had already de- 
clared that the family was then on a " tempestuous 
sea," and that Jerome, under the circumstances, 
should be provided for and domiciled in America, was 
a wise and natural conclusion. That he should be 
disposed of in this manner was the opinion of Mr. 
Robert from the beginning, and he never changed it. 
The attention of the reader is again respectfully 
called to the reading of his third letter. 

Dating "Paris, March 16th 1804," he writes again 
to his father in Baltimore. He says, " I wrote you 
on the 14th instant via Bordeaux. In that letter I 
mentioned my having received a very polite note from 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 61 

Mr. Lucien Bonaparte, requesting me to wait on him ; 
in consequence of which I did so, taking with me 
Mr. Bentalou. He observed, Jerome's marriage had 
given the First Consul great displeasure ; but that 
neither himself, his mother, nor the rest of the family 
w T ere by any means dissatisfied w T ith it. Mr. Lucien 
is in a similar situation w 7 ith Jerome. He married 
without his brother's approbation, and his wife has 
not as yet been recognised by the Consul. Since the 
rest of the family are pleased with the marriage, I 
think there can be little doubt of the First Consul's 
being eventually reconciled to it, as his moral cha- 
racter is irreproachable, and it is. scarcely possible to 
suppose that he would stain that character by doing 
away so sacred a contract as that of matrimony. 
The family intend Mr. Jerome shall remain in Ame- 
rica, and become a citizen of the United States. 
They mean to invest a sufficiency in our stocks to 
produce him an income of about $15,000 per annum. 
I believe it is not their intention that the principal 
should be subject to his control. You will most pro- 
bably be appointed to hold in trust for him whatever 
stock may be purchased. Mr. Bentalou and myself 
had the honor of dining with Mr. Lucien Bonaparte 
yesterday. I was highly flattered with the attention 
shown me. He observed, at parting, that he should 
expect to see me every three or four days, and if I 
disappointed him he would be obliged to quarrel 
with me. 

" Mr. Livingston has had no conversation with the 
Consul relative to his brother's marriage. He wishes 



62 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

to reconcile him to it by means of his ministers. They 
inform Mr. Livingston that when they have intro- 
duced the subject he has remained silent, which they 
taking as an indication of his displeasure have drop- 
ped it. Mr. Livingston is entitled to our warmest 
thanks for his zeal to serve us in this business." 

Dating the 17th, Mr. Patterson continues his letter 
on the same sheet : " I called at Mr. Joseph Bona- 
parte's this morning without having the pleasure of 
seeing him. I was, however, very politely received 
by Madame, who regretted that Mr. Bonaparte was 
obliged to be at that time from home, particularly as 
he was very desirous of seeing me. We have every 
•reason to be pleased with the situation of this affair at 
present, and think you may make yourself perfectly 
easy as to the result. 

" I have been asked if I have the portrait of 
Madame Jerome, more than once. The family are 
desirous of seeing a miniature of her. If one has not 
been taken already, it may not be amiss to have it 
done, and sent either to some of the family or to me, 
that I may present them with it." 

Pausing for a moment or more to inspect public 
opinion, we find it drifting in the direction that the 
marriage of Jerome Bonaparte of France to Miss 
Patterson of America, at this early day in the history 
of the latter country, w T as a mild specific providen- 
tially administered to check irregularities in republi- 
can society. Opinion took another direction, and 
hinted that the wrath of the First Consul, which was 
rapidly gathering, would dismiss Jerome from the 



THE BONAPARTE-PA TTERS02T MARRIAGE. 63 

service, and hurl him violently from French associa- 
tions, even before the beginning of the first dog-watch 
in the day of his glory ; but it will be seen hereafter 
that this was not the consular purpose. 

From the 17th to the 28th of March Mr. Robert 
Patterson remains silent, waiting for an opportunity 
perhaps to dine with Mr. Joseph Bonaparte. The 
French mind was now inclining to the opinion that 
Napoleon would soon define his position with respect 
to the marriage, and make himself guilty of a vast 
expenditure of power upon the subject. In this state 
of uncertainty Mr. Patterson writes again to his 
father. Dating " Paris, March 28th 1804;" he writes : 
" On Saturday I had the honor of dining with Mr. 
Joseph Bonaparte. None of the family were present 
but his lady. It is a little singular he did not 
throughout the evening speak a word of his brother's 
marriage, and onlv mentioned his name when I was 
departing, to request I would forward him the letter 
which I now enclose. As he possesses the confidence 
of the First Consul, he probably for this reason de- 
clined saying anything on that subject, lest I might 
imagine he gave the sentiments of his brother. My 
being admitted to his table cannot but argue more 
favorably to our wishes than otherwise ; though it had 
been infinitely more satisfactory and pleasing had he 
been less reserved. 

" Lucien is a firm and decided character. On all 
occasions he thinks and acts independently. On this 
one he nobly and candidly uttered what he thought. 
The consular recognition or disavowal of the marriage 



64 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

will probably be determined by future occurrences. 
Much will depend on Jerome. If be acts the part of 
an honorable man everything must go right. 

" It is the duty of my sister, as a wife, to retain 
and increase the affections of her husband ; and her 
exertions ought, if possible, to be doubled, from the 
peculiarity of her situation. 

44 They are perfectly acquainted with your history. 
Lucien the other evening, asked me if our family were 
not originally from Ireland. I replied that you came 
when very young to the United States from that 
country ; but that my mother was a native American." 

From the first of January to the date of the pre- 
ceding letter, the writer says he had no accounts from 
his father. Mr. Patterson, it appears, wrote very 
little on the subject of his daughter's marriage; and 
the avenues of information to Robert in Paris, just 
about this time, became almost suddenly closed. 
Scaling his surroundings in finely-wrought balances, 
he found uncertainty so heavy that all other commodi- 
ties kicked the beam, and he departed for Amsterdam 
to bide his time. Mr. Bentalou, the cheerful and 
ever hopeful friend of the Patterson family, is silent, 
and Minister Livingston is the same ; but certain 
French frigates are ploughing the deep towards New 
York. 

Minister Livingston has not yet answered Mr. Pat- 
terson's letter to him under date of February 10th 
1804. It is the middle of April, and the young couple, 
returning from Washington, are about to set off on a 
northern tour. Napoleon's silence on the subject of 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 65 

the marriage was so deep and unbroken, that certain 
parties interested in the affair, reclined to repose ; but 
others, alarmed by "the voice of silence," kept wide 
awake, conscious that some slumbering tempest was 
about to break forth and sing his war-song on the face 
of the deep. 

Napoleon spoke at last, and gave out to one of his 
ministers the wonderful facts detailed in the next 
chapter. Pichon, the French Consular General in 
New York is instructed to withhold Jerome s supplies, 
and the commanders of French vessels are prohibited 
from receiving on board the " young person" to whom 
he has attached himself ! 



CHAPTER III. 

Letter from M. Dacres to citizen Pichon — Strict orders — 
Jerome's pay withheld — He is ordered home — His wife to be 
left in the United States — Not to put her foot on the territory 
of France— French captains not to receive her on board their 
vessels — Jerome is implored to return alone to France — Letter 
from M. Dacres to Jerome — Napoleon's opinions of the mar- 
riage — Letters of Dacres intercepted by a British commander 
— He copies them — The secret out — Mr. Patterson writes to 
Jerome — Gives the extent of his information — Hope runs 
high — -Chancellor Livingston recalled from France — General 
Armstrong succeeds him — Mr. Livingston writes to Mr. Pat- 
terson — He sends Joseph Bonaparte's letter — Its translation. 

Heading his letter, "For yourself only" and 
dating " Paris, April 20th 1804," M. Dacres, French 
Minister of Marine, writes to Citizen Pichon, " French 
Consular-General at New York." "I have taken," 
writes he, " the orders of the First Consul, citizen, 
concerning the demand you made on me for the ap- 
pointment of an allowance to be granted to Citizen 
Jerome Bonaparte ; and, bound to obey the orders 
which he has given me in a way that showed it was 
not his intention that the slightest modification should 
have place, either in my mode of transmitting them to 
you, or in the execution of them, I discharge my duty 
in notifying to you his resolution that no money shall 
be advanced on the order of Citizen. Jerome. 

" He has received orders in his capacity of lieute- 
nant of the fleet, to come back to France by the first 

(66) 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 67 

French frigate that was returning thither; and the 
execution of this order, on which the First Consul 
insists in the most positive manner, can alone regain 
him his affection. But what the First Consul has 
prescribed to me, above everything, is to order you to 
prohibit all captains of French vessels from receiving 
on board the young person to whom the Citizen 
Jerome has connected himself, it being his intention 
that she shall by no means come into France, and his 
will, that should she arrive, she be not suffered to land, 
but be sent immediately back to the United States. 

" After having thus notified to you the intentions 
of the First Consul, and having ordered you to attend 
to the arrangements he has made, it remains for me 
to invite you to employ for the persuasion of the 
Citizen Jerome, every expedient which your wisdom, 
your prudence and excellent judgment shall suggest. 
I have written him to this purpose, and have repre- 
sented to him that the glorious and brilliant career to 
which his destiny calls him, requires of him a neces- 
sary sacrifice, due also to his interest, his personal 
glory, and the designs of the Hero to whom he has 
the honor to be related. Explain to him, that having 
been absent for several years, he little knows the 
First Consul, whose inflexibility can be compared to 
nothing but the vastness of his conceptions. Cherish- 
ing important and profound meditations, he considers 
himself as having no family but the French people ; 
everything unconnected with the glory and the happi- 
ness of France is indifferent to him. In proportion 
as he delights in exalting and honoring those of his 



68 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

relations who participate those sentiments with him, 
does he feel coldness for those who do not partake 
them, or who walk in a different path from that which 
his genius has traced out for himself. Unwearied 
fabricator of his own glory, he bewails in secret that 
he sees not his example followed with the same per- 
severance by those of his own blood ; he is indignant 
at the obstacles thrown in his way by what he calls 
their effeminacy; and he declares against beholding 
them otherwise engaged than in following the steps 
of his career. 

" Citizen Joseph, his eldest brother, distinguished 
by the eminent services he has rendered in his council, 
by diplomatic meditations and labors, known to all 
Europe by the treaties he has concluded, invested 
with the senatorial robe and of the first rank in the 
legion of honor, has seemed to him as not yet suffi- 
ciently clothed with glory, and wishing to crown him 
with that for which every one may find instruments 
in perils, hardships, and genius, he has just given him 
one of the regiments to bear into England the national 
vengeance. 

" General Louis, general of division, known until 
now by military glory, is about to add to that of the 
statesman, and has just been admitted into the coun- 
cil section of legislation. 

" Citizen Lucien, with the reputation of past con- 
duct, and a fortune perfectly independent, has formed 
connexions repugnant to the views of the First Con- 
sul ; and the consequence is, that he has just quitted 
France ; and that, obliged to abandon the theatre of 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 69 

the glory of his own family, he has exiled himself to 
Rome, where he becomes the simple spectator of the 
destinies of his august brother, and the Empire. 

" These examples will inform Jerome what his bro- 
ther expects of him, and what he may expect of his 
brother. Young as yet, and of an age when the laws 
authorize not a marriage to which relations have not 
consented, he has indiscreetly and rashly contracted 
one (these are the Consul's words) ; he has abandoned 
the labors which the country required of him. Yield- 
ing to an irrational passion, he has without doubt acted 
grievously wrong, but his youth shall be suffered to 
plead his excuse, provided he is wise enough not to 
disobey the voice which calls him. 

" Ashamed of his indolence, too long protracted, let 
him seize the first occasion of returning to share the 
labors whereof he should have given an example, and 
lie will recover his brother in the head of the state. 
It is the only means to consecrate the ties which unite 
them. 

" As his friend, as devoted to his family, as his super- 
intendent in fine, in the career which he has embraced, 
I have a right to expect a quiet hearing from Jerome, 
and I entreat that he will execute the orders he has 
received, and follow my advice. I see his brother 
every day, and if I give him no prospect of bending 
that brother, by a different conduct, it is because, in 
truth, I have perceived that he is in this respect in- 
flexible. 
• " i Jerome is wrong, said he to me, ' to fancy that he 
will find in me affections that will yield to his weak- 



70 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

ness.. The relation in which J stand to him does not 
admit of 'parental condescension ; not possessing the 
authority of a father over him, 1 cannot feel for him 
a father s affection. A father is blind, and takes a 
pleasure in blinding himself because his son and he 
are identified. They have given and received so much 
reciprocally that they form but one person ; but as to 
me, what am I to Jerome? what identity can subsist 
between us ? Sole fabricator of my destiny, I owe 
nothing to my brothers. In what I have done for 
glory, they have found means to reap for themselves an 
abundant harvest ; but they must not on that account 
abandon the field when there is something to be reaped. 
They must not leave me insulated, and deprived of the 
aid and services ivhich I have a right to expect from 
them. They cease to be anything to me, if they press 
not around my person, and if they follow a path that 
is opposite to mine. If I require so much from those 
of my brothers who have already rendered so many 
services, if I completely abandon him who in maturer 
years has thoughtproper to withdraw himself from my 
direction, what has Jerome to expect f So young, as 
yet, and only known by forgetfulness of his duties, 
assuredly if he does nothing for me, I see it in the 
decree of fate ivhich has determined that I ought to do 
nothing for him.' 

" This is what the Hero has said and repeated to 
me in divers conversations. The solemnity of these 
confidential communications he has condescended to 
make to me on this subject, has struck me, and I re- 
pose them in your bosom that you may seize the 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 71 

moment and the manner of impressing them upon 
Jerome. What gratitude will he not owe to you if 
you succeed in persuading him ! I know not what 
degree of resistance you will experience, but let him 
be well persuaded that it is more from personal attach- 
ment than from that duty, that I insist with him on 
such details. My duty might be limited to trans- 
mitting to him the orders and arrangements of the 
First Consul, but this long effusion can proceed from 
no other motive but my friendship for him. The 
Consul would end by forgetting him, and he is occu- 
pied by so many great objects, that this oblivion, pain- 
ful at first, would settle into habit, and this is what I 
fear. 

" If the delirium of the passion should render him 
inaccessible to the voice of reason, you have only one 
thing to represent to him, which is, that the passions 
cease, or at least decline, and that in this case the 
consequence would be endless. Jerome is very young, 
his life will be long, and I, who know his brother much 
-better than he himself knows him, am certain that 
should he not comply with his wishes, he is storing up 
for himself the most poignant regret. Moreover, if, 
unfortunately for Jerome, he should prolong his stay 
in the United States during the war, if peace should 
be made before his return, what a grief for him to 
have passed with a woman a season of clangers ; and 
what regret does he not prepare, even for the woman 
herself, when humbled by his obscurity, he shall one 
day impute to her, were it even involuntary and secret 
at the bottom of his heart, the indolent part to which 



72 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

he shall have been reduced by the passion wherewith 
she inspired him ! And even if he loves this woman, 
let him learn, for her sake, to quit her. Let him re- 
turn and keep near his brother — he will give him 
credit for the sacrifice, and from the sentiments of 
good will and friendship which will thence result, it 
has not forbidden him to conceive hopes. But let him 
not bring her along with him. Be her accomplish- 
ments what they may, they would 'produce no effect, for 
most assuredly the order is given to prevent her land- 
ing, and it would be fresh trouble, and a disobedience 
too gross of the orders of the First Consul to have 
any other effect than an irritation extremely unpleas- 
ant for what is and ought to be most dear to the heart 
of Jerome. 

" I repeat to you, citizen, I recommend the object 
of this letter to your careful attention, and to your 
solid judgment, as to the use you shall make of it. 
I have entered into no detail on the nature of the ille- 
gality of the connection in question, because I treat 
this affair in a sentimental manner merely ; but I have, 
some difficulty to conceive how the father of the young 
person has brought himself to yield to an union rep- 
robated by our laws, and which the dignity of Jerome's 
family required should be very maturely considered 
before it was consented to. D acres." 

" The example of Lucien cannot but divert Jerome 
from imitating his conduct. Behold him separated 
from his brother ! But this afflictive separation, afflic- 
tive for all the friends of their family, would have 
much more unpleasant consequences for Jerome, who 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 73 

has yet acquired no personal weight, no fortune, 
and whose property left behind at Paris, has been em- 
ployed in part to pay the bills he has drawn on France. 
But this motive is nothing in comparison of those 
more prevailing ones of the duties and the career of 
glory that call upon him." — Ootemporaneous remark. 

On the 20th of April 1804, the pen, whose potency 
has been compared to that of the sword, was busy in 
the department of the French Minister of Marine. 
On that day also he writes to Jerome Bonaparte in 
New York. Dating, " Paris, 30th Germinal, year 
12," he proceeds — "I have been just fulfilling, my 
dear Jerome, a rigorous duty imposed upon me by the 
First Consul — that of forbidding the Citizen Pichon 
to supply you with money, and prescribing to him to 
prohibit all the captains of French vessels from receiv- 
ing on board the young person to whom you have at- 
tached yourself ; it being the intention of the First 
Consul that she shall on no pretext whatever, come into 
France ; and should she happen to present herself, 
that she shall not be received, but be re-embarked for 
the United States without delay. 

" Such, my dear Jerome, are the orders which I 
have been obliged to literally transmit, and which have 
been given me and repeated after the interval of a 
mouth, with such a solemn severity as neither allowed 
me to withhold them altogether, nor to soften them in 
the slightest degree. 

" After the discharge of this severe duty, I cannot, 
my dear Jerome, deny myself the pleasure of length- 
ening my letter in a way w T hich the attachment I feel 
5 



74 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

to you will warrant, and our military association 
entitles me to. If I loved you less, if the sentiments 
with which you have inspired me, did not so perfectly 
accord with those which I owe to your family, if there 
were not between you and me a sort of companion- 
ship in arms, and of intimacy which I delight in 
keeping up, I should confine myself to the despatch- 
ing of the orders which I have received, and to an 
accurate official correspondence, the result of which 
would give me very little uneasiness. Instead of this, 
I am going to chat with you at a great rate, and with- 
out knowing beforehand what I am about to say. Of 
one thing I am certain, I shall tell you nothing of 
which I am not well persuaded. 

" War is carrying on, and you are quiet and 
peaceable at the distance of twelve hundred leagues 
from the theatre on which you ought to act a great 
part. If unfortunately you come not back in the 
first French frigate which returns to Europe, and I 

have already given you that order by C tds, an 

order which I repeated to you by the Consul's com- 
mand in the most formal manner — if, I say, you shall 
not return to France until after the peace, what 
dignity will accompany your return ? How will men 
recognise in you the brother of the Regulator of 
Europe ? In what temper of mind will you find that 
brother, who, eager after glory, will see you destitute 
even of that of having encountered dangers ? — and 
who, convinced that all France would shed its blood 
for him, would only see in you a man without energy, 
yielding to effeminate passions, and having not a 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 75 

single leaf to add to the heaps of laurels with which 
he invests his name, and our standards. 

" 0, Jerome ! this idea alone should determine you 
to return with all expedition among us. The sound 
of arms is heard in every quarter, and of the prepar- 
ations of the noblest enterprise ! you are inquired 
for ! and I, vexed that I should be at a loss what an- 
swer to give to those who ask where you are, declare 
that you are just at hand — give me not the lie, I 
beseech you ! your brother Joseph, father of a family 
he adores, possessed with a fortune proportioned to 
his rank, invested with the highest civil honors of the 
state, known throughout Europe for his sagacity and 
his diplomatic labors, wishes to add to so much glory, 
that of sharing with the Consul the dangers of war, 
and has just got one of the regiments about to embark. 
Louis, known by his military services, a general of 
division, is desirous of adding to that glory, that of 
displaying talents for civil arrangements. He has 
just entered into the Council of State — the Section 
of Legislation. 

" Lucien, it is true, has just quitted France, and 
has exiled himself to Rome in consequence of a 
marriage repugnant to the views of the First Consul ; 
but Lucien is known by the services he has rendered 
by his genius, by his talents, by the dignity of a 
senator ! He is possessed of a great and independent 
fortune ; and notwithstanding, the connections dis- 
avowed by his brother which he has contracted, have 
been found incompatible with his abode in France. 

" What has taken place in your family points out 



76 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

to you sufficiently what the First Consul expects of 
you, and his inflexibility concerning what you shall 
do in opposition to his views. Sole architect of the 
glory of which he has attained the summit, he ac- 
knowledges no family but the French people ; and in 
proportion as he exalts his brothers who press around 
him, so have I seen him show coldness and even 
aversion to those of his own blood who push not for- 
ward in the career which his genius marks out for 
them. Whatever is foreign to the accomplishment 
of his great designs, seems to him treason against his 
high destiny ; and believe me, for I know your 
brother better than you know him yourself; if you 
should persist in keeping yourself at a distance from 
him he would get angry at first, and would conclude 
by entirely forgetting you ; and Heaven knows what 
regrets your obscurity would lay up in store for you ! 
Scarce can a more brilliant career be opened to a 
man of your age. Shut it not up yourself! The 
union which you have formed has deeply afflicted 
him ! While I, thought he, am doing everything for 
glory, for my own, for that of my name, for the happi- 
ness of the people that have put their fate into my 
hands, by whom may I hope to be seconded, if not by 
my brothers ? and the youngest among them forms an 
inconsiderate connection on which he has not even 
asked my opinion. He has disposed of himself as a 
private individual. It is therefore as a private indi- 
vidual he wishes me to consider him. What claim 
does he earn to my benefactions ? None I for instead 
of being useful to me, he takes the route diametrically 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 77 

opposite to that ivhich I wish him to follow. In vain, 
availing myself of the freedom which the First Consul 
permits in domestic privacy, did I wish to make the 
voice of natural affection be heard. I became sensi- 
ble, from his conversation, that he neither felt, nor 
was sensible to feel, any pliancy of that kind. 

" l I ivill receive Jerome if leaving in America the 
young person in question, he shall come hither to asso- 
ciate himself to my fortune. Should he bring her 
along with him, she shall not put a foot on the terri- 
tory of France. If he comes alone I shall recall the 
error of a moment, and the fault of youth. Faithful 
services and the conduct which he oives to himself, and 
to his name, will regain him all my kindness. ' 

" Such, my dear Jerome, are nearly the words of 
the First Consul ! Bethink yourself, my friend, that 
he is only your brother ; and that, as I have already 
told you, a brother feels not the yielding condescen- 
sion of a father, who identifies himself in some mea- 
sure with his son. Consider that you have as yet 
done nothing for him ; and that in order to obtain 
the advantage attached to the honor of being con- 
nected with him, you have not a moment to lose for 
deserving them — for it is his character that merit 
and services rendered, or to be rendered, are the 
only things on which he sets a real and solid value. 
In truth, I am frightened at the regrets you are pre- 
paring for yourself, and the young person with whom 
you have connected yourself, should you go to the 
length of opposing the views of your brother. Your 
passions will pass away, and you will reproach your- 



78 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

self with the injury you have done yourself. Perhaps 
you will accuse, even involuntarily, the young person 
who will have been the occasion of it. Listen to rea- 
son ! and she will tell you, that, at any rate, you have 
committed the fault of failing in respect for your 
brother, and for a brother fed for a length of time 
ivith the love and veneration of all France, and with 
the respect of Europe. You will be sensible how 
happy it is for you, that you are able, by returning 
to France, to obtain the pardon of this fault ; that it 
would be inconsistent with your profound dignity to 
carry thither a woman who would be exposed to the 
mortification of not being received. I know not whe- 
ther you can hope to overcome your brother's unfa- 
vorable dispositions towards her ; and, to deal frankly 
with you, I see no probability of such a thing — but 
if there be any means of obtaining it, it must be 
your presence. By your compliance with his views, 
by proofs of your devoted attachment to him, you can 
bring it about. You are so young, that if you un- 
happily let slip the opportunity of placing yourself 
about the Consul, you will have many years for regret 
to steal upon you. The obscurity to which you would 
thus condemn yourself would be long — and long and 
bitter the comparison between that lot you had chosen 
for yourself, and that which once awaited you. With- 
out distinction, fame, or even fortune, how could you 
bear the weight of the name with which you are 
honored ? To you, a' stranger to the glory attached 
to it, it would become an insupportable burden. I 
repeat it for the last time, my 'dear Jerome, come 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON 31ARRIA GE. 79 

hither — come hither by the first French frigate which 
shall sail from the United States, and you will meet 
with such a reception as you desire ; but I regret 
that you know not the Consul sufficiently, because 
you would then be persuaded that you cannot regain 
his good will but by this expedient; and this good 
will is essential to your happiness and to your glory. 

" I conclude with the expression of the most sincere 
attachment, which I shall never cease to retain. 
Happy if I have been able to influence your deter- 
mination in the way I could wish, more happy still, 
if my letter was unnecessary for that purpose. A 
thousand kind wishes. Dacres." 

These letters the imperial Bonaparte directed to be 
sent to M. Pichon and Jerome at New York, on the 
subject of the marriage, but they w r ere intercepted by 
the commander of the British frigate Leander off New 
York. After taking copies the British commander 
transmitted the originals to their owners, and we hear 
no more of them for nearly a year ; but w T e shall meet 
with them again in these pages. The condition of 
morals exemplified in the order from " head-quarters 
of the centre," and in these letters, is a leaning back- 
wards after glory, so that, under the circumstances, 
the great master-wheel of civilization in Europe, 
driving its little world of counter-wheels, could not 
have made many revolutions in its pit. If Providence, 
moving in time, carries a " fan" in hand to purge the 
floor of nations, that the wheat may go into the garner 
and the chaff into the fire, its European correlative 
surely cannot be discerned in Napoleon. Like " a 



80 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MAR RIA GE. 

thorn in the flesh' ' he appeared to do little else than 
to gather corruption around him until the time of his 
removal. From the stand-points exposed to view by 
the documents in question, the "wind and tide" 
against which the noble bark of Mr. Patterson and 
his daughter was beating, will be clearly seen and 
comprehended. Weary of the silence in Europe, and 
unconscious of the fulminations of the consular decree 
delivered through the Minister of Marine, he takes 
his pen in hand to write to Jerome, and revealed to 
him the extent of his information, his hopes and his 
fears. The young couple had gone to New York, 
probably with a view of embarking immediately for 
Prance on some French vessel to go from that port ; 
but found there the alarming intelligence from Dacres, 
and the following enactment of the French Senate : — 

u By an act of the 11th Ventose, prohibition is made to all 
the civil officers of the Empire to receive on their registers the 
transcription of the act of the celebration of a pretended 
marriage that Jerome Bonaparte had contracted in a strange 
country, during the age of minority, without the consent of 
his mother, and without previous publication in the place of 
his nativity/' 

Without the least knowledge of this alarming state 
of things, the young lady's father, as just mentioned, 
wrote to Jerome. Dating, Baltimore, May 13th 1804, 
he writes — " Dear Sir — As you may not probably 
have received any late letters from your family in 
France, and of course must be anxious to know their 
sentiments respecting your marriage, I will now give 
you the best information I have been able to collect. 
In the middle of the month of January, your mother 



THE BONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MARRIAGE. 81 

and the First Consul were made acquainted with the 
circumstances that had taken place, until the match 
was broken off, and were highly pleased that it had 
not taken place. About this time the First Consul 
gave orders that you should be recalled and brought 
home ; but I presume before his orders could be put 
into effect, by despatching a vessel from France, the 
news of your marriage must have arrived, and prob- 
ably put a stop for the present to sending out the 
vessel intended. I have no information that can be 
depended on after the news of your marriage reached 
your family, and I fear they will be greatly displeased, 
and perhaps be difficult to reconcile them to the steps 
you have taken. This however will rest with yourself ; 
and I trust you have, and will take, every means in 
your power to satisfy them on this head. My son 
Robert had arrived in Amsterdam from London, and 
w T as to set out for Paris on the 5th of March, with 
your letter to the First Consul, and several more from 
this country, and from Mr. Monroe, our Minister in 
London. I shall know the event after he reaches 
Paris, and will communicate to you the information I 
may receive from him immediately ; but in the mean 
time, if you should receive any news relative to the 
business, I request you will write me, and as you may 
naturally suppose, our anxiety will be great until we 
know the final issue. Believe me, with sincere regard, 
your friend. " 

Receiving his first letters from Robert in Paris, the 
mails at that time travelling slowly, he writes again 
to Jerome in New York. Dating May 17th 1804, he 



82 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MA RRIA GE. 

begins — " Dear Sir — I wrote you the 13th inst. under 
coyer to my friends, Messrs. William Neilson & Co., 
of New York, and this will be forwarded in the same 
way. I have now the satisfaction to inform you, that 
on yesterday I received letters from my son Robert 
in Paris, dated the 16th and 17th of March, stating 
the particulars of a conversation and interview he 
had with your brother Lucien, which affords myself 
and family very great satisfaction, and I hope will be 
equally pleasing to you and Betsy ; and for your bet- 
ter information, you have now the conversation that 
passed between your brother and my son, word for 
word, as taken down and noted at the time. By the 
note at bottom, you will perceive that your despatches 
were made up and forwarded on the 15th of March ; 
but that the First Consul had instructed his Charge 
d 1 Affaires in this country to express his displeasure 
to you on the measures that had taken place relative 
to your marriage. Your brother Lucien however ob- 
serves, that this is to be considered as a matter of 
form ; and that your family have written to you by 
the same conveyance in the most friendly and affec- 
tionate terms. 

"Whatever measures you may think proper to adopt 
in consequence of the recommendation and plans laid 
down for you by your family, I will most cheerfully 
promote, and assist, as far as is in my power, so as to 
forward and establish your happiness in whatever 
depends on me. Write me frequently, and believe 
me, with the utmost sincerity, dear sir, your assured 
friend.' ' 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 83 

Under elate Baltimore, 19th May 1804, Mr. Pat- 
terson again writes to Jerome, and drops a word of 
advise. " Dear sir," he begins, " I wrote you the 
17th accompanying an exact copy of the communica- 
tion made by your brother Lucien to my son Robert 
at Paris, respecting the views and intentions of your 
family for your settlement in this country. It is to 
me and my family a very pleasing circumstance ; and 
considering the precarious and unsettled state of 
things in France at present, added to the risk of your 
being captured by the British were you to embark 
just now for home, I think it a wise and fortunate 
determination of your family. You can better judge 
of their views than I can in being so very anxious 
for your becoming a citizen of the United States. I 
should however be led to conclude that their intention 
is to secure an establishment in this country in case 
of any violent change or revolution in France ; and 
surely it is equally your interest and duty to promote 
their happiness and security by following their instruc- 
tions. 

"The frigate you. mention coming out with the 
Minister will certainly bring you letters that will 
explain everything, and corroborate what your 
brother told my son in Paris. Under these circum- 
stances it will perhaps be best for you not to go on to 
Boston before you receive the letters you may daily 
expect. I am, dear sir, yours very sincerely/' 

In reply to the above letters from Mr. Patterson 
none from Jerome appear. If he did answer, the 
reader will before long find some reason to induce the 



84 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

belief that the answers were burned soon after read- 
ing them. We hope, however, this was not the case. 

Waiting a few days for Minister Livingston's reply 
to Mr. Patterson's letter of the 10th of February, we 
remark that this gentleman, late in the winter of 
1804, was recalled by the President of the United 
States, and General John Armstrong appointed to 
succeed him. An item of news from London,, under 
date of February 13th 1804, says : " The recall of 
Mr. Livingston, the American Minister at Paris, was 
occasioned by a personal infirmity of that gentleman. 
He is unfortunately very deaf." 

It will be remembered that Jerome Bonaparte held 
a commission in the French Navy, having arrived at 
New York in command of a French frigate. From 
the " British Neptune" of February 13th 1804, we 
clip the following item: " Two Swiss officers in the 
French service are just arrived from France, having 
made their escape from thence. They have been 
examined before the privy council, and made a de- 
claration that the invasion of this country will be 
attempted in the course of the present week, wind 
and weather permitting;" and in order to obtain his 
services in this naval attack on England, the Prefect 
of the Department of the Indre and Loire, issuing the 
following circular, would fain have reached Jerome in 
America. The document reads : " The French go- 
vernment attaches the most extreme importance to 
the immediate appearance of the proper officer at the 
different ports, of those seamen who have been called 
upon by their country to assist in the grand expedi- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 85 

tion now preparing, and which will shortly be afloat. 
Many have answered to their demand, and have pro- 
ceeded to their several places of destination. But 
there are still more who have persisted in keeping 
themselves concealed, or who have otherwise found 
means to disobey this peremptory order notwithstand- 
ing their having been duly apprised of it by the 
proper magistrates." 

The words still more are italicised in the original, 
and the order goes on to declare that all who do not 
obey it in a given time shall incur the penalties of 
desertion. 

If, as the French Minister of Marine declared in 
his letter to Jerome of the 20th April, the order of 
Napoleon prohibiting Citizen Pichon from supplying 
him with money, and the French captains from re- 
ceiving on board the " young person" to whom he 
had attached himself, had been given and repeated 
with solemn severity " after the interval of a 
month," then had it gone forth and was in the custody 
of Dacres, when, on the Saturday preceding the 28th 
of March, Mr. Robert Patterson " had the honor of 
dining with Mr. Joseph Bonaparte;" and it does not 
now appear so "singular" that "he did not through- 
out the evening speak a word of his brother's mar- 
riage." 

Under date of June 20th 1804, Chancellor Living- 
ston, still in Paris, and not yet displaced by the arri- 
val of General Armstrong, his successor, answers Mr. 
Patterson's letter of the 10th of February. "Sir," 
says he, in the .handwriting of his Secretary of Le- 



86 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

gation, "I received your favor of the 10th of Feb- 
uary, a few days before my departure for England. 
As I had written fully on the subject of your daughter's 
marriage both to the Secretary of State and to Gen- 
eral Smith, who I knew would make the communication 
to you, I postponed writing in the hope of being able 
to communicate something satisfactory to you. You 
learned from those letters the plan that had been pro- 
posed for making an establishment for Mr. Bonaparte 
in America. You have also learned from my late 
letters that the new order of things here would prob- 
ably make some changes in the determination of the 
First Consul on this subject. To reduce my suspicions 
on this head to certainty, I wrote to Prince Joseph, 
who was at Boulogne. On my return from England, 
I found the letter of which the enclosed is a copy, 
which I think clearly evinces that the plan is changed. 
But I have great hopes it will not be disadvantageous 
to your son-in-law, or daughter. 

"If, as I doubt not, he perseveres in his attach- 
ment for her, and in those resolutions which his 
sentiments of honor will dictate, I think I see some 
appearance of relaxation here; and I hope for a full 
reconciliation which will place him upon the ground 
on which he ought to stand with the Emperor. I can- 
not be more particular at present, but you may be 
assured that the little I can give in this business, you 
may freely and fully command. I have furnished, as 
you request, extracts from General Smith's letters to 
Prince Joseph, and communicated the sentiments con- 
tained in the President's and Mr. Madison's letters. 
Though I can tell you nothing certain, for you know 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 87 

a matter of this kind cannot be treated diplomatically, 
and the absence of Madame Bonaparte, the mother, 
and Lucien, and Prince Joseph, narrows the avenues 
to information, yet I have great hopes, that ere long 
this business will be accommodated to the satisfaction 
of all the parties. I am, sir, with esteem, your most 
obedient humble servant.'' 

The copy of Prince Joseph's letter enclosed by Mr. 
Livingston is dated, " 27th Floreal (April) year 12," 
and reads as follows : — 

" Monsieur: J'ai rec,ules lettres que vous ni'avez fait l'hon- 
neur de m'ecrire. Je suis fache de la peine que vous vous etes 
donnee. Avant de partir pour Parage j'ai ecrit a Monsieur 
Jerome quelles etaient les intentions du Consul, et j'ai remis 
la lettre a un citizen des Etats Unis, ami de Mr. Patterson fils. 

" Daignez, Monsieur, agreez mes remerciments et l'honi- 
mage de ma haute consideration." 

The following is a rough translation perhaps made 
in America by an ordinary scholar ; but which we 
prefer to give without correction : — 

" Sir : I received the letters which you did me the 
honor to write to me. I am sorry for the trouble it' 
gave you. Before starting for the army, I wrote Mr. 
Jerome w T hat have been the intentions of the Consul, 
and remitted the letter to a citizen of the United 
States, a friend of Mr. Patterson's son. Please 
accept my thanks and the tribute of my high con- 
sideration." 

On this letter the reader already has the remark 
of Mr. Livingston, to the effect that the consular 
plans with respect to the establishment of Jerome in 
America had been changed. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The young couple in Baltimore — Sleighs and snow-balls — 
Bad boys — Gossip in New York — French frigates — Bonaparte 
and lady about to sail for France — His baggage on board — 
Going in The Dido — British frigates on the watch — The couple 
do not embark — Robert Patterson in Amsterdam — News from 
Paris — Letter from a strange writer — He hails from Lille — 
Pope of Rome — Queen of Etruria — The young couple visit the 
u Hub" — A secret gets out — More gossip — General Armstrong 
sails — Madame Bonaparte does not — Her letter of explana- 
tion — " Little Baltimore beauty" — An astonishing paragraph 
in the French papers — Napoleon's opinion of his brother Jo- 
seph — Joseph's remarkable letter to Jerome. 

Leaving- transatlantic affairs for a season to the 
direction and control of circumstances, we return to 
the United States- to bring up the rear. On the 25th 
of January 1804, the young couple, as appears from 
the following paragraph, were still in Baltimore : — 

" Our city, especially Market street, exhibited a 
lively scene yesterday and to-day, from the incessant 
passing and repassing of sleighs and four! Ill sleighs 
and two 1 1 and sleighs and one I The younger part 
of our city patriots were, as customary on such occa- 
sions, troublesome and dangerous with their snow T - 
balls. Madame Bonaparte, we understand, was thrown 
at and struck by a ball ; for the perpetrator of which, 
it is said, her husband offered arew T ard of five hundred 
dollars. The evil certainly requires a remedy, and 
several lads, we learn, have been taken up by the 

constables. " 

(88) 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 89 

It has already been stated that on the 4th of Feb- 
ruary Jerome and his lady were on their way to Wash- 
ington City to visit the French Minister. On the 
29th of May it was said in New York, " We have 
heard it alleged that it is to be reported that Jerome 
Bonaparte will return to France by one of the frigates 
now here, whilst in fact he is to sail in a merchant 
vessel. One of the French frigates from Guadaloupe 
came up yesterday from Staten Island and anchored 
near the city in the North River, for the purpose of 
taking in provisions. The other frigate is expected 
up this day. It is said, and we believe with truth, 
that Jerome Bonaparte and lady will go to France in 
one of these ships ; for we were recently informed by 
an official character that Jerome had received a letter 
from his brother, stating that he should send a frigate 
for him. The commander of one of these frigates 
has gone to the southward on business w T ith young 
Bonaparte, probably to hasten his return, that they 
may sail immediately, as a detention in this port 
might bring some British ships of war within the 
lights of Sandy Hook." 

On the 14th of June,, it was published in New York 
that " M. Jerome Bonaparte, his lady and Mr. Pat- 
terson, of Baltimore, her father, arrived in this city 
on Tuesday. Report says that the young couple are 
about to depart for France, but the correctness of 
the rumor is considered questionable. They attended 
the theatre last evening, accompanied by the captains 
of the Cybele and Didon frigates, and several gentle- 
men. That these vessels may leave the Hook with- 



90 THE B ONAP AR TE-PA TTERSON 31 A RRIA GE. 

out apprehension, a pilot-boat was yesterday chartered 
to cruise in the offing, in order to discover whether 
there are any British ships of war in the way." 

On the 16th, it was announced that " two pilot- 
boats, sent out with each a French officer on board, 
to ascertain whether the British vessels of war are 
off the harbor, returned yesterday afternoon with 
information that the coast is clear. M. Jerome Bo- 
naparte went down to the French frigates at the 
watering-place yesterday morning. It is understood 
that he is to take his departure in the commodore's 
ship, the Didon, of 44 guns, reputed the best appointed 
and fastest sailing frigate in the French or English 
Navy. It was in this vessel, according to report, 
Napoleon escaped from Egypt. 

" Bonaparte's baggage was put on board the Didon 
yesterday ; and if so, it is possible the French frigates 
will sail this morning. 

" We have received information that the news of 
the arrival of the French frigates in this harbor had 
reached Halifax, which caused a bustle among the 
inhabitants of that place. The Cambrian frigate of 
44 guns, which had her topmasts struck when the 
news arrived, was completely fitted for sea in a few 
hours, and intended to sail immediately with the 
Leander for New York." 

On the 19th of June it was paragraphed that " Je- 
rome Bonaparte and lady were rowed up yesterday 
from on board the Didon, and were safely landed oppo- 
site their lodgings in Washington street at 12 o'clock. 
The Frenchmen say they would not mind the Cam- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 91 

brian frigate, and Driver sloop of war, but the heavier 
ships which they say are in the offing, they wish to 
avoid." 

On the 20th it was said " the reports, to which the 
arrival of the British vessels of war have given rise, 
are numerous and contradictory. At one time it is 
said the Frenchmen are determined to sail at all haz- 
ards — at another that they had no such intentions 
even prior to the arrival of the Boston frigate. It is 
now reported that Jerome has magnanimously resolved 
to take his passage in the Didon, and share with his 
countrymen the dangers of a rencounter with the 
enemy, now, that he has prudently laid aside the idea, 
until the concurrence of more favorable circumstances. 
Appearances last evening seemed to justify the con- 
jecture that the French frigates will not sail soon. 
Intimidated probably by the proximity of the enemy, 
and alarmed still more perhaps by the bold and im- 
perious conduct of the Cambrian frigate toward the 
ship Pitt, they yesterday came up from the watering 
place, and anchored about three miles below the city, 
where it is highly presumable they will remain as long 
as the enemy pleases. By an order from the Mayor 
in consequence of an application from the French 
commanders, the pilots on board the British vessels 
were ordered not to pilot them out for twenty-four 
hours after the Frenchmen should sail, provided they 
did so the first fair wind. Immediately upon the re- 
ceipt of the orders, the Cambrian frigate and Driver 
sloop of war weighed anchor ; and, without the assist- 
ance of pilots, dropped down to the bay, where they 
now lie at anchor with the Boston." 



92 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

On. the 21st report had it for the last twenty-four 
hours, that " M. Jerome and lady had taken their depar- 
ture in a sloop to overtake the Silenus, which sailed a few 
days ago for Amsterdam — a previous arrangement 
having been made. We are now informed that they 
are still in the city, and it is expected they have aban- 
doned their contemplated departure for the present. 
The number of the British frigates, &c, on the coast, 
and the sharp lookout that will be kept for them in 
different parts of their voyage by vessels of superior 
force, would render their safe arrival in France ex- 
tremely improbable." 

On the 28th of June the following " communica- 
tion" appeared in the New York papers: "It has 
been said in some of the papers that Bonaparte has 
taken a summer residence near this city. This may 
be true. It is certain, however, that General Ray, 
the French Commissary, has taken the cabin of the 
brig Holla, which vessel is about sailing from this 
port for Bordeaux ; and it is believed that Bonaparte 
and his lady are going home in this vessel. It is well 
enough to give out that he is going to spend the sum- 
mer here in order to avoid a suspicion of his embark- 
ing on board a merchant ship." 

On the 9th of July it was again paragraphed in 
the New York papers that " Jerome Bonaparte, it is 
understood, has abandoned all intentions of imme- 
diately returning to France, and contemplates com- 
mencing in a few days a pretty extensive tour ; in the 
course of which, after passing through the Eastern 
States, he will visit the Springs of Lebanon and 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 93 

f 

Balltown, and pursue the customary route to view the 
grand Falls of Niagara. His lady will be of the 
party." 

Leaving the young couple on their Northern tour, 
we will conduct the reader across the Atlantic to 
Amsterdam, where, it will be remembered, we last 
located Mr. Robert Patterson. This gentleman gives 
us his latest accounts from Paris, which we will allow 
him to explain in his own words. Dating "Amster- 
dam, July 21st 1804," he says: " The following is 

an extract from a letter from Mr. M , dated 

Paris, July the 15th. I am confident that we may 
safely put every reliance on what he says, as, from 
the opportunities he has had, no person can be better 
informed of their sentiments than himself. It is the 
gentleman who came out with John." The extract 
from Mr. M.'s letter is: "I have not, my friend, 
written you for a long time, because I wished to give 
you some good news relative to the affair, which has 
taken a good turn. There are in America two 
frigates charged to bring back Mr. Bonaparte. If he 
returns in them with his wife, it is an affair finished. 
She will be well received. I have written to him by 

Captain B y's son urging him to return, and be 

assured I am too much attached to him and his wife 
to recommend their taking a wrong step." 

Having gathered all the news accessible in Amster- 
dam, we leave Mr. Patterson there engaged in busi- 
ness of a strictly commercial character, and return 
again to France. At "No. 1, Rue Royal, Lille," we 
encounter a strange correspondent, who, under date 



94 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

of " August 7th 1804, addresses a letter to " Madame 
Jerome Bonaparte." He unexpectedly and strangely 
"rings in;" but having a desire to hear from all on 
this subject, we point him to a seat within our circle 
of correspondents. "Madame," says he, "I can 
make no better apology for thus abruptly introducing 
myself to your acquaintance than the plea of kindred, 
which I deem a powerful one, and which I shall be 
highly flattered in finding admitted as such by you. 
At all events, madame, my rank, fortune, and future 
prospects in life are such as to raise me above all 
suspicion of interested motives ; and if they were not, 
I am persuaded from the accounts I have had of 
you, that you have too much liberality of sentiment 
to entertain any such suspicion in the most distant 
degree. 

" It is natural for persons who value? themselves on 
the casualty of birth, and annex preferences to con- 
sanguinity, to wish to perpetuate kindred connections ; 
and to that end to seek out, and cultivate acquaintance 
with, those whom their best instincts teach them to 
regard. Such I am sure is my motive in this address ; 
and it will give me particular happiness if this letter 
should be instrumental in reviving the friendship which 
formerly subsisted between your father and mine, 
in the persons of their descendents. Our fathers, 
madame, were first cousins, and I have often heard 
my good father mention yours, who in early life went 
with Messrs. Cunningham and Stuart to America, in 
terms of the warmest friendship. 

" The incidents and turns of life have, I admit, 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 95 

made one very essential difference in our relative 
stations. You have had the good fortune to dra^fa 
valuable prize in the lottery of life, a prize which 
most of -your sex covet, but of which few could be 
found so deserving as yourself. 

" By marriage you are not only closely allied to 
the greatest man of the age, but united with one of 
the best, and have so far attained a happy state of 
exaltation ! Yet, give me leave to observe to you, ma- 
dame, that, though your merits have thus been happily 
rewarded, you are descended in a near degree from a 
family as noble, and what is of still greater moment, 
as truly respectable as any in the kingdom of Ireland ; 
and I will venture to assert, that they have not, in 
any one instance, deviated from those principles of 
honor ; and while our conduct is regulated by the 
same honorable motives, no change of situation or 
circumstances should make us forget the duties we 
owe to them, and to ourselves. 

"It is on this principle, madame, and from a per- 
suasion that our sentiments on this subject must coin- 
cide, that I venture to hope you will not only per- 
mit me thus to introduce myself to you by letter, but 
further, if you should come to France, you will give 
Mrs. Paterson and myself the honor and happiness 
of being personally known to you. 

"I came with my wife to France about eighteen 
months ago, for the benefit of her health, which has 
been for some time in a very precarious state. Unfor- 
tunately and most unexpectedly, the renewal of hos- 
tilities between the two countries has frustrated my 



96 THE B ONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

plan, and prevented me from giving Mrs. Paterson 
tlat frequent change of air and climate which her 
physicians had so strongly recommended. Under this 
disappointment we remained stationary at Valen- 
ciennes — a depot for the strangers — for twelve months ; 
at the expiration of which time, it occurred to me to 
appeal to the government so far as to solicit a change 
of residence, which was become more requisite than 
ever for Mrs. Paterson. The boon I solicited was 
kindly attended to by his Excellency the Minister at 
War ; and through the representation of a friend 
whose goodness I can never forget, granted a con- 
cession which I consider as a mark. of special favor, 
and for which therefore I feel myself truly grateful. 

"We are now fixed at Lille, where, though con- 
sidered as an hostage, I am treated with all possible 
lenity, and experience as much indulgence as, under 
existing circumstances, I can reasonably expect. It 
will add much to the comfort I at present enjoy to 
find the advances I have thus made requited as favor- 
ably as I could wish them to be. Be assured that no 
one could take a more warm and friendly interest in 
your welfare than myself, and few persons feel more 
partiality for kindred than I do. 

" Mrs. Paterson joins me in every good wish for 
your health and happiness, and permit me to subscribe 
myself, madame, your sincere friend and most obe- 
dient servant, George Matthew Paterson/' 

This letter is endorsed, " George W. Paterson to 
Betsy ;" but an answer to it has not been found in our. 
files. Nothing more at Lille. We visit Paris and find 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 97 

nothing bearing on our subject, except two items from 
Rome and Etruria. The first from Rome declares 
^itat " that the Estates of the Church, under the 
guardianship of the French army, is suffered to enjoy 
peace, and permitted to pay for it. The influence of 
the sovereign pontiff, which a few years since seemed 
almost annihilated, has lately been re-established, and 
the holy father finds in Bonaparte, though a politic, 
apparently a very dutiful son. Pius VII. is of a 
placid disposition; and though his power as a tem- 
poral prince has been lessened, he appeared contented 
w T ith the enjoyment of his spiritual dominion. His 
nephew has recently been married to a sister of the 
First Consul." 

The second item, as stated, is from Etruria, and is 
to the effect that "this republican kingdom does not 
furnish much political matter worthy of record. It 
is but an appendage of the French Republic ; and its 
infant sovereign is under the guardianship and tute- 
lage of the French General Clark." 

Leaving France again, and completing the circle 
to Boston, where we land on the 20th of August, we 
learn that Jerome and his lady had been on a visit to 
that city : and that she had said her husband was in 
receipt of the intercepted letter of M. Dacres, the 
French Minister of Marine. 

On the 20th of August, it was announced in New 
York that " Jerome Bonaparte, having returned ^o 
this city from the Eastern States, partook of an ele- 
gant entertainment on board the French frigate Didon 
on Friday last. We are informed that the French offi- 



98 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

cers addressed him by the title of ' His Imperial 
Highness,' and that a late number of the Moniteur 
invites this style of address." 

On the 5th of September, the young couple were 
still in New York, accommodating themselves to cir- 
cumstances, and biding their time of embarkation for 
France ; but an unfortunate occurrence takes place 
which seems to put an end to all hopes for the pre- 
sent. Reminding the reader that General Armstrong 
had been appointed to succeed Chancellor Livingston 
as Minister, he was about to sail, and we will allow 
Madame Jerome Bonaparte to tell here her own story. 
Addressing a letter to her father, " William Patter- 
son, Esquire, South street, Baltimore, Maryland," 
under date " New York, 5th September 1804," she 



" Dear Sir — We have made a journey here for 
nothing, as General Armstrong, the Ambassador, 
after writing to Mr. Bonaparte that he would be de- 
lighted at taking me to France with him, changed his 
mind, and went off without me. To-morrow we are 
to leave this place for Philadelphia, and from thence 
we go to Springfield immediately ; so that, as I shall 
see you soon, it is unnecessary to say any more. 

" I thought the opportunity of going with an Am- 
bassador too good to be missed, and Mr. Bonaparte 
was to have gone in the frigates a few days after 
me." 

The only signature which this communication con- 
tains is the letter JE., underscored. It is endorsed in 
the handwriting of her father with the words and 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 99 

figures — " Betsy, N. Y., September 1804," and bears 
the red post-mark on the envelope, " New York, 
Sept. 5." 

The young couple, it appears, were generally the 
custodians of their own secrets, thus giving rise to a 
multitude of rumors, and puzzling the quidnuncs. 
It turns out that the parties did leave New York, as 
stated in Madaine's letter to her father, just quoted; 
and on missing them from their usual places of resort, 
it was published in that city, on the 8th of the month, 
that — 

" It is rumored that M. Jerome Bonaparte and his 

little Baltimore beauty have taken French leave, and 

tacitly slipped off in the vessel which carries General 

„ Armstrong, our lately-appointed Minister, to Nantz." 

This paragraph was followed by another under date 
of the 10th, to the effect that " a report has been 
prevalent for a few days that Jerome Bonaparte and 
his lady have embarked for Havre on board the ship 
Thomas. We are however assured the rumor with 
respect to Jerome is certainly incorrect. Some ob- 
scurity attends that part of it which relates to his 
youthful bride. It is stated on good authority that 
she was to have taken her departure in that vessel 
under the protection of our Ambassador ; and that 
she was to have arrived here for that purpose on 
Monday evening, the vessel w T aiting till Tuesday to 
receive her. On Tuesday the ship sailed, and on the 
same day the young couple came in a stage-coach to 
Elizabethtown. At Elizabethtown Point they were 
received by a barge belonging to one of the French 



100 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRAGE. 

frigates. Whether the lady was put on board the 
vessel as she left the harbor, or whether the ship had 
sailed a few hours previous to her arrival, remains in 
doubt. The latter is said to have been the case, and 
the young couple returned to Philadelphia by the 
stage, after a short delay." 

Leaving the young couple en route for Baltimore, 
by way of Philadelphia and Wilmington, we again 
sail for France, and arrive in Paris on the 12th of 
October. Previously to our arrival, however, French 
despatches from New York had evidently reached the 
city, and we find that a very scurrilous article relating 
to Jerome and his wife has passed the censors of the 
French press, and appears in all the papers of Paris, 
except the Moniteur. It is in the papers by authority , 
of the government, for it could get in by no other 
means, and we copy a literal translation of it : — 

" One of our journals, in saying that the American 
gazettes speak often of the wife of Mr. Jerome Bo- 
naparte, observes that it is possible Mr. Bonaparte, a 
young man who is only twenty years of age, may have 
a mistress, but it is not possible he can have a wife, 
since the laws of France are such that a young man, 
a minor of twenty, or even twenty-five years, cannot 
marry without the consent of his parents, and with- 
out having fulfilled in France the formalities pre- 
scribed. But Mr. Bonaparte was born in December 
1784, and it is already more than a year since the 
American papers have announced him as married. " 

Such are the tones that rung out on the air of the 
French metropolis after a silence of several months, 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 101 

at the instance of him who had " hitherto uniformly 
endeavored to impress upon the world the highest idea 
of his moral character.' ' Coming as it did into the 
French papers, made the above document official, 
carrying with it the force of any other papers uttered 
by the government of the country — and for this rea- 
son, it moved back, over the space of unreckoned 
degrees, the gnomon that marks the advance of civili- 
zation on the dial of nations. 

That the reader may be possessed of material from 
which he can draw his own inferences from matters 
and facts about to be introduced, we think it proper 
to furnish him with what the First Consul appeared 
to think of his brother Joseph. Designating him for 
the command of a division of the grand army about 
to invade England, Napoleon says : " The Senator 
Joseph Bonaparte, grand officer of the legion of 
honor, has testified to me the desire of partaking in 
the dangers of the army encamped on the coasts of 
Boulogne, that he may share in the glory. I have 
thought it for the good of the state, and that the 
Senate would perceive at pleasure, that after having 
rendered important services to the republic, as well 
by the solidity of his councils in circumstances the 
most serious, as by the knowledge, ability and wis- 
dom he has displayed in the successive negotiations of 
the treaty of Morfontaine, which terminated our dif- 
ferences with the United States of America ; in that 
of Luneville, which gave peace to the continent ; and 
more recently in that of Amiens, which had restored 
peace between France and England, the Senator Jo- 
seph Bonaparte should be placed in a situation to 



102 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

contribute to the vengeance which the French people 
promise themselves for the violation of the latter 
treaty; and that he should have the opportunity 
given him of acquiring a still stronger title to the 
esteem of the nation. 

" Having already served under my eyes in the first 
campaigns of the war, and given proofs of his courage 
and skill in the art of war in the rank of chief of 
battalion, I have nominated him colonel commandant 
of the fourth regiment of the line, one of the most 
distinguished corps of the army, and which is reck- 
oned among those who, always placed in situations of 
the greatest peril, have never lost their colors, and 
have very frequently decided the victory. I desire 
therefore that the Senate agree to the request that 
will be made to them by the Senator Joseph Bona- 
parte for leave of absence from the Senate during the 
time which the occupations of the war may detain 
him with the army." 

This paper exposes the bone of contention between 
France and England at that time, and the intimacy 
of the two brothers. When he wrote his short letter 
to Mr. Livingston in June, Joseph was in charge of 
his new command at Boulogne, but in October we 
find him again in Paris. On the 19th of that month, 
he writes the following remarkable letter to Jerome, 
from which the reader is left to draw his own con- 
clusions. 

"My dear friend," writes the Senator to his young 
brother, " I have received your letter from Albany 
that Mr. Esmenard delivered to me. I have told him 
what I wrote to you several times since your mar- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 103 

riage, and what I wish most ardently to be effected — 
I mean, my dear Jerome, your arrival in France. I 
cannot give you my advice respecting the way of 
undertaking that voyage. I am sensible that it would 
be an excellent one if, taking your passage on board 
a man-of-war, you might have a glorious engagement 
which could enable you to soften the dissatisfaction of 
those who love you, and are displeased only at the 
oblivion in which your distance and your stay in a 
country so remote seem to have left them. 

" M. Or eel, who will deliver this to you, shall relate 
to you all that I told him on that subject. Be per- 
suaded, my dear friend, of the desire that I enter- 
tain of proving to you the strong feelings which I 
devoted to you. I do not know your resources in the 
country where you are. Do not forget that every 
thing I have is at your disposition, and that I shall 
share with you everything I could have, with great 
pleasure. It is since your affections have led you far 
from your family, from your friends, that I feel, by 
myself, that you cannot renounce them. 

" Tell Mrs. Jerome from me, that as soon as she 
will be arrived, and acknowledged by the chief of the 
family, she will not find a more affectionate brother 
than me. I have every reason to believe, after what 
I have heard of her, that her qualities and character 
will promote your happiness, and inspire us with 
esteem and friendship that I will be very much 
pleased to express to her. Do not accustom them to 
you absence particularly for such a length of time." 

This translation was made in America soon after 
the arrival of this letter. 



CHAPTER V. 

Robert Patterson — Paul Bentalou — Lucien Bonaparte — 
The scandalous paragraph — Maupertuis — Miss Caton — Duke 
of Wellington —General Armstrong on marriage — More let- 
ters from Robert Patterson — Letters of Dacres in Halifax— 
Sensation in New York — Young couple shipwrecked in the 
Delaware — Madame Bonaparte first in the life-boat — Narrow 
escape from drowning — Baltimore and Philadelphia out-sensa- 
tion New York — Philadelphia comes out best — More letters 
from Mr. Patterson — Young couple encounter 44 guns — 
Madame Bonaparte's courage — The gentleman who came out 
with John — A great wheel — Excursion into the wilds — Mons. 
P. de Maupertuis at the wheel — His wonderful letters — His 
leagues of cable — Jerome's disgrace — Coronation of Napoleon 
and Josephine — The world is dazzled. 

We have received no advices from Mr. Robert 
Patterson since the 21st of July, save three letters 
of a commercial character alone, and nothing from 
Mr. Bentalou in Paris since his letter of the 16th of 
March, detailing the substance of certain conversa- 
tions with Lucien Bonaparte ; nor have the inter- 
cepted letters of M. Dacres been made public either 
in England or the United States. The scandalous 
paragraph relating to the marriage, which appeared 
in the French papers of the 12th of October, came to 
the knowledge of Mr. Patterson in Amsterdam on the 
2d of November, and with his usual sagacity and 
sound judgment he pens the following comments upon 
the subject : — 

"This absurd and scurrilous article appeared in all 

(104) 



TEE BONAPARTE-PATTEESON MARRIAGE. 105 

the Paris papers but the Moniteur. In France 
censors are appointed who examine every paper pre- 
vious to giving it to the world, so that it is not 
possible to suppose a paragraph of this kind would 
have passed them if it had not been authorized by 
the government. The Consul's determination is now 
but too plain. It is fortunate Jerome is still in 
America. He ought to remain there for the present 
until his friends have recognised his marriage. If his 
family are determined on proceeding to extremities, 
they will possibly, to oblige him to return, curtail his 
supplies, perhaps withhold them altogether. I can 
scarcely, however, think such a plan would be perse- 
vered in. 

" Our dependence is now entirely on Jerome's 
honor. With firmness on his part, the affair may yet 
terminate favorably. There is much to be appre- 
hended — when the Emperor has made up his mind on 
any subject, he seldom gives way or recedes from his 
opinions." 

Dating November 4th on the same sheet, Mr. Pat- 
terson continued: "M may have been sincere in 

advising Jerome to return, but it is at least injudi- 
cious. They could only expect the worst after such 
a declaration as was made in the article in question. 
The source from which it came cannot be doubted, 
neither is it by any one in Paris. The only security 
for their happiness is by their remaining in the 
United States. Jerome should be cautious in credit- 
ing the advice from parties in Paris who recommend 
his returning. You can judge, or at least form as 
7 



106 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

probable a conjecture as any person there of what 
would be the consequence of such a step." 

Dating November 7th, Mr. Patterson postscripts 
his letter again, and proceeds : " I have a letter from 
Mr. Bentalou of the 3d inst. He tells me he thinks 
the paragraph of the 12th of October was inserted 
by way of retaliation to the many abusive ones which 
appeared in our prints ; and he does not, by any 
means, think the prospect so gloomy as appearances 
would seem to indicate. I understand it was the 
intention of my sister to have come out on the same 
ship with General Armstrong, which some misunder- 
standing prevented. Presuming she will persevere in 
her intention, I shall go on in a week or two to Paris 
to meet her. Mr. Monroe and his family are in 
Paris. He will do everything in his power, I am 
persuaded, to procure her a cordial reception. I 
have been expecting every minute, for the last week, 
to be called upon for my letters for the L. P., which 
is the reason of your having so many dates on this 
sheet." 

Waiting for another letter from Mr. Robert Patter- 
son, we will state, for the information of the young 
reader, that he married the eldest daughter of 
Richard Caton, Esq., a distinguished English gentle- 
man, who in early times settled in Maryland and 
married a daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

Mr. Patterson's accomplished and beautiful wife, 
when travelling in Europe with her husband, formed 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON 31ARRTA GE. 107 

a great intimacy with the Duke of Wellington. Ele- 
vated by the projectile force of a wild ambition, in a 
direction so contrary to that of the universal gravita- 
tion of mankind, Napoleon fell at last by the fortunes 
of the Duke at Waterloo, and landed, to eat " the 
bread of affliction,' ' on the island of St. Helena. 

Continuing our digression a little longer we will, 
for the reason mentioned, refer again to General 
Armstrong, who did not take Madame Bonaparte 
with him to France. At a time perhaps when the 
General did not even dream of becoming a Minister 
to France himself, he penned the following facetious 
lines, for which we are indebted to the " Republic 
Court :" " We have a French Minister now with us," 
referring to the Count de Moustier, " and if France 
had wished to destroy the little remembrance that is 
left of her and her exertions in our behalf, she would 
have sent just such a Minister — distant, haughty, 
penurious, and entirely governed by the caprices of a 
little singular, whimsical, hysterical old woman, whose 
delight is in playing with a negro child and caressing 
a monkey." 

Some time during the revolutionary war he wrote 
the following : " I am not yet married nor likely to 
be so. The truth is, I am too poor to marry a 
woman without some fortune, and too proud to marry 
any woman possessed of one. In this dilemma, until 
my circumstances change, or other objects present 
themselves, I must ever keep along in the solitary 
road I am in." Circumstances seem to have changed 
at an early day, for in 1789, the first year of the 



108 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

presidency of Washington under the new Constitution, 
General Armstrong married the sister of Chancellor 
Livingston, his predecessor at the Court of France. 

Begging the young reader to bear with us a little 
longer, whilst, for his information and convenience, 
we refer to the French Calendar during the Republic, 
we will state that the first month of the republican 
year commenced on the 22d of September 1792, of 
the Christian era. The twelve months of the repub- 
lican year, commencing as above, were respectively 
named Vend^miaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivose, 
Pluviose, Ventose, Germinal, Floreal, Prairial, Mes- 
sidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor — signifying, in their 
regular order, the months of Vintage and Wine, Fog 
and Winter, White Frost, Snow, Rain, Wind, Germs 
or Sprouts, Flowers, Meadows, Harvest and Gift, 
Warmth and Heat, Fruit and Gift. From this the 
reader will have a better understanding of the French 
dates which are so frequently made in the future 
pages of this book. 

It will be remembered that Mr. Robert Patterson, 
in his letter from Amsterdam under date of Novem- 
ber 2d, in speaking of his sister, said, " I shall go on 
in a week or two to Paris to meet her." 

On the 4th of December 1804, after a long lull of 
the winds which scattered wild rumors along his 
pathway, he writes from Paris to his father in Balti- 
more. " Dear Sir," says he, " I have been here about 
a week. I had flattered myself that I should have 
been able to have discovered what were their inten- 
tions respecting the affair in which we take so much 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 109 

interest; and though I have tried to obtain that 
information through every channel that was accessible 
to me, 1 have been disappointed. 

"I believe the fact is, if he has even any settled 
design, no person knows it. Everything that can be 
said on this subject is vain conjecture. You can form 
just as plausible an opinion of what will be the 
ultimatum as any person here. I am told, and I have 
it from such authority as makes it unquestionable, 
that the other members of the family are very de- 
sirous of reconciling the principal. It is not unlikely 
but they may eventually succeed. At present I sus- 
pect he shows so great a disinclination to hear of the 
subject, that none of them ventures to revive it. Our 
best plan is to let the thing remain as quiet as 
possible, and to avoid particularly every measure 
which can have the least tendency to irritate. He 
has already been much incensed at a letter written 
him by Jerome. He says it has given him more dis- 
pleasure than even the marriage itself. All those on 
whose judgment you have the most confidence, are 
decidedly of opinion Jerome ought to remain in the 
United States if not directly contrary to his instruc- 
tions ; but in the event of his coming out, that he 
should bring his wife with him, let the consequence 
be what it may." 

In November 1804, it vaguely appears that Mr. 
Patterson, when at Antwerp on his way to Paris, 
learns for the first time of the publication in the 
" Halifax Morning Chronicle" of the letters written 



1 10 THE B ONAPAR TE-PATTERSON MARRIA GE. 

by Dacres to Jerome and Pichon, and pronounces 
them a forgery. 

He says, however, on reaching France, that "the 
letters which were intercepted and published in 
England, said to have been written by the Minister 
of Marine to Jerome and to Pichon, are genuine. 
He acknowledges he wrote them. I do not, however, 
think the measures he mentions to have taken to 
prevent her landing in France will be enforced/ ' 

This paragraph comes in a business letter from 
Holland of. the 25th November, without date, and 
down to this time it does not appear that Mr. Patter- 
son, the young lady's father, had any knowledge of 
the existence of the intercepted letters, or their pub- 
lication in Halifax. But further light on this obscure 
part of our subject will shortly appear. 

With respect to these letters, however, a Halifax 
paper of the 8th of September has the following: 
" We have been favored with the perusal of two 
French official letters, dated Paris, 30th Germinal. 
One of them is signed 'Dacres,' and addressed to 
Jerome Bonaparte, now in America. The writer 
informs Jerome that by order of the First Consul his 
allowances are stopped, and intimates Napoleon's 
highest displeasure at his having remained so long in 
America, and having married without his consent. 
Dacres says that the young woman with whom 
Jerome has connected himself will not be permitted 
to enter the French territories ; and should she even 
arrive at any port in France, she will be instantly 
reshipped for the American States. He is reminded 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. Ill 

that the First Consul is not operated upon by the 
blind affection of a parent ; that he will only acknow- 
ledge those relations who press around him and assist 
in executing his vast plans. The brothers Joseph, 
Louis, and Lucien are spoken of in high terms of 
commendation ; but the latter, though eminently use- 
ful, and possessed of an independent fortune, yet, 
having contracted a marriage contrary to the will of 
the First Consul, has been banished to Rome. But 
you, says the writer, are pointed out as a man with- 
out spirit, yielding to the tender passions, not having 
added a single leaf to the laurels which crown him, 
his name, and our colors. He is repeatedly pressed 
to return to France in the first frigate that may offer, 
but as often cautioned against bringing the young 
woman with him. It would be degrading, says 
Dacres, your personal dignity to introduce into this 
country, a woman who ought to be in humiliation, 
and who will not be received here. The other letter 
is from Citizen Denes directed to Citizen Pichon, and 
is to the same effect. The whole of both letters, w T hich 
are very lengthy, is such as to impress the reader 
with an idea of the supreme insolence and contempt 
with which the usurper looks down on those engaged 
in the humble walks of life. They were intercepted 
on board a vessel bound from Bordeaux to New 
York, and we have not the smallest doubt of their 
authenticity." 

If Mr. Patterson saw this paragraph, it is likely 
he looked upon the letters to which it referred as 
forgeries, depending upon his son Robert in Europe 



112 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

for facts to guide his judgment ; and we do not dis- 
cover that Jerome made him acquainted with the 
originals prior to his return from his tour in the 
Eastern States. 

We last left the young couple on their way from 
Philadelphia to Baltimore. On the 16th of August it 
was announced that, on the Friday preceding, Jerome 
Bonaparte, his lady and suite, arrived at Providence, 
Rhode Island, on their way to Baltimore, where it is 
said he proposes to reside. This announcement, with 
others already referred to, was made to pave the way 
for their secret departure for Europe, in order to 
throw off their guard the British vessels on the coast 
which intended to capture Jerome. 

On the 21st it was published in New York again 
that Jerome Bonaparte, some time since, received a 
letter from his brother the Emperor of France, in 
which he says, " If you return, come alone — if you 
tarry, expect no promotion." We do not vouch for 
this, says the publisher, but we receive it as a fact; 
afrid in consequence M. Bonaparte has resolved to 
reside in the United States with his lady. 

On the 22d of August the city of New York made 
itself responsible for another paragraph of the sensa- 
tion persuasion, which went the rounds in this form: — 

i( Interesting and pleasing intelligence is received from a 
gentleman in France respecting Jerome Bonaparte and his 
lovely bride. It is confidently reported in the first circles of 
Paris, that the Emperor has forgiven his brother, and taken 
the young couple into favor. The circumstance is said to have 
been effected, or aided, by a portrait of the lady which had 
been transmitted to the mother by Bonaparte ; and being much 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 113 

celebrated for her beauty, it was sent for by the Empress 
Josephine/' 

On the arrival of the young couple in Baltimore 
about mid- autumn, that city and Philadelphia fell to 
work and out-sensationed New York. Their produc- 
tion was " founded upon fact, and was therefore the 
more startling." Baltimore, claiming the first put, 
gravely begins : — " M. Jerome Bonaparte and his fair 
spouse have at length taken their departure for France. 
The mode they adopted to lull curiosity, and obtain 
sufficient start before the news could reach any Eng- 
lish vessel on the coast, reflects some ingenuity on the 
inventor ; and if Jerome be the man, it gives him a 
small title to the station of Imperial High Admiral 
of the French Navy. It appears that since his return 
from the eastward, he has fitted up in very handsome 
style the elegant seat of Mrs. Dulany, about two 
miles from the city, which, it was given out, he meant 
to make his permanent residence, at least during the 
war between Great Britain and France. His absence 
from the streets or parties in the city for two or three 
days at a time, of course no longer excited suspicion. 
Matters being thus arranged, he attended the theatre 
on Thursday night last with his lady, and when the 
play was over they repaired on board a packet at one 
of the wharves, which had been engaged for the pur- 
pose, and proceeded down to North Point, where, 
with one or two of her relations, who accompany them 
to France, they were put on board the fast sailing 
schooner Cordelia, Captain Towers, which had been 
fitted up and ballasted for the purpose. On Sunday 



114 THE BONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MA RRIA GE. 

it began to be whispered about that Jerome was off ; 
but there seemed so much of a quiz in the tale, that 
no one out of the secret believed it till it could be no 
longer doubted/' 

Baltimore, feeling " certain and sure," she had all 
things in a nut-shell this time, and that the young 
couple were verily on a bridal tour in the dominions 
of old Neptune, continues her narrative in great con- 
fidence : — 

" The name of Jerome Bonaparte has been so much 
bandied about in the newspapers, and so many reports 
spread of his attempts to quit the country, that he 
has at last fairly got the advantage of busy rumor, 
and left for her votaries nothing but a vacant gaze — 
unless perhaps they should yet fit him on the horns 
of John Bull, or in the maw of a whale, a situation 
he and his lady had a 4 narrow escape from, accord- 
ing to the annexed article from the Philadelphia True 
American, received by this morning's mail : 

" ' By a gentleman from Dover, Delaware, we learn 
that the snow Philadelphia, Captain Kennedy, of and 
from this port, bound to Cadiz, was driven on shore 
in the gale last Friday, at Pilot-Town, the passengers 
and crew saved, and it is said the vessel will be got 
off without injury. Jerome Bonaparte and lady were 
passengers on board, incog., and narrowly escaped 
drowning. It is said the whole of the passengers 
were nearly naked, and that Madame Bonaparte w^as 
the first person that jumped into the boat.' 

"We cannot," continues Baltimore, " help viewing 
the above article as an excellent thing, by way of 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 115 

underplot to the farce of the Flight ; and so far as 
it could tend to counteract any information which 
might have been sent off to New York from this place, 
it was no bungling piece of stratagem. The owners 
and insurers of the Philadelphia need, therefore, be 
under no great apprehensions about the vessel, for we 
strongly suspect that the tale concerning her and her 
passengers was fabricated here, although imposed 
upon the editor of the True American as coming from 
4 a gentleman from Dover. '" 

In a few days, the Baltimore writer comes down, 
and credits Philadelphia with the truthful part of the 
story. " The report," says he, " circulated here for 
a few days past respecting the departure of Prince 
Jerome Bonaparte and his lady, and which we con- 
tributed to extend, turns out not to be correct, as the 
following article confirms their shipwreck on board the 
Philadelphia : 

" ' We are authorized to say that the account lately 
given of Prince Jerome Bonaparte and his lady being 
shipwrecked in the snow Philadelphia in the Bay of 
Delaware, on their passage to Cadiz, is correct. They 
embarked at Port Penn and were landed, after being 
in imminent danger, at Pilot-Town. They arrived 
this day, the 31st October, in Philadelphia, accom- 
panied by Miss Spear and M. Pichon.'" 

A snow is a vessel with two masts resembling the 
main and foremasts of a ship, and a third small mast 
just abaft the mainmast, carrying a trysail. In this 
little affair of the shipwreck, Philadelphia was sailing 
under true colors, and the flag of Baltimore fell to 
half-mast. 



116 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Leaving the young couple in Baltimore, to put in 
motion some other forces to take them " out of the 
country," we return to France. Mr. Robert Patter- 
son is still in Paris, writing occasionally to his father 
in Baltimore. Under date of December 25th 1804 r 
he writes again, and refers to the shipwreck. " I wrote 
you," says he, from this place on the 4th inst., "via 
Amsterdam and Bordeaux, and have since received 
your letter of the 2d of November, which informed 
me of the unfortunate accident which befell Jerome 
in his attempt to return. The two frigates which 
were at New York arrived about ten days since at 
L' Orient. His brother is extremely angry at his not 
coming with them. After speaking the other day of 
him in very harsh terms, he observed that, as to his 
marriage, he could view it in no other light than a 
camp one — the laws of France acknowledging no con- 
tract of this nature valid when entered into by a per- 
son under twenty-five years of age. Maupertuis had 
an interview yesterday with the mother. She says 
orders have been sent to the different ports to arrest 
him if they came together, and to send her back to 
the United States. She fears the execution of these 
orders — having no doubt they will be rigidly en- 
forced — will make so much noise throughout Europe 
that it will be impossible to re-tread the steps, and 
perhaps preclude the possibility of a reconciliation. 
She will write him, recommending his coming alone 
to France, and his sending his wife to Holland. She is 
of opinion if he adopts this plan, and continues firmly 
attached to his wife, a reconciliation may be brought 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA T TEE SON MARRIA GE. 117 

about. I wish most sincerely this may get to hand 
in time for him to avail himself of it. I highly ap- 
prove of the advice of his good and amiable mother, 
and recommend in the most earnest manner his adopt- 
ing it. It might be advisable for his' wife and the 
persons accompanying her to Holland to take ficti- 
tious names, to avoid the buzz her arrival would occa- 
sion, and to prevent her being the stare of the town 
whilst the negotiation is going forward. Maupertuis 
is appointed to the consulate at Rotterdam, and goes 
on to that place next week. 

" I intend setting out to-morrow for Bordeaux. 
My chief object in undertaking this jaunt is to meet 
them in case of their arriving there. If they come, 
and she should be ordered away, we will proceed to 
St. Sebastins. The proximity of that place to France 
will afford me an opportunity of corresponding with 
this country, and she will at least avoid a second win- 
ter's passage. 

" I have been induced, by the shocking state of the 
roads, and the little probability of their arriving 
shortly at Bordeaux, to postpone my journey to that 
place some days longer." 

Mr. Patterson here closes, and " no more at pre- 
sent" from France. On the 24th of November the 
young couple are announced as in motion, having 
fallen upon another expedient to " quit" the country. 
Leaving New York and Philadelphia in the distance, 
Baltimore becomes responsible for the consequences 
of another " buzz." 

"Prince Jerome and his lady," says the penman, 



118 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

" left the city on Thursday last for Annapolis, where 
they embarked for France on board the frigate Pre- 
sident of 44 guns, which we understand immediately 
weighed anchor, and .proceeded down the bay. The 
British frigate Revolutionnaire of 44 guns, has arrived 
in Hampton Roads, and if the commander is disposed 
for sport, he may have an opportunity of trying the 
prowess of his tars." Here are 44 guns against 44 
guns, and the course of true love, under the circum- 
stances, does not run smooth in the Chesapeake ; and 
on the 5th December, the young couple are announced 
as having arrived in Washington. The writer says : 
" Jerome Bonaparte and his lady arrived here yester- 
day noon. They had been on board the French 
frigate Le President, intending to go to France, but 
the English frigate Revolutionnaire had beat out of 
the capes, and was waiting for them, but the French 
were not then prepared. We understand, however, 
that it is the intention of the French captain to go 
out, neither inviting nor refusing an engagement. 
Whether Jerome will go or not, we are not informed." 
It must have required a courageous spirit, and 
indeed, we think, a daring one, to prompt Madame 
Bonaparte — young, gay and inexperienced — to face 
war on the sea, and royalty and wrath in Paris, 
should she go to France. It is true, that those whom 
she would meet were her superiors only in the splen- 
dors attendant upon imperial power, and not in 
family. France was then in transitu from what was 
styled a republic to an absolute monarchy ; and the 
revolution was moving so quietly on as to be almost 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSOX MARRIAGE. 119 

imperceptible. One of those great " strokes of state" 
which occasionally alarm mankind at widely distant 
periods, had been made by bringing " soldiers into 
the sanctuary of the law," and thus wer^ sown the 
seeds of change which brought forth the germ, the 
flower and the fruit of empire. At such a time a 
people become drunk on wine pressed out from 
haughty grapes, and in encountering men and women 
thus over-stimulated, Madame Bonaparte could look 
for nothing short of a humiliating reception. And 
the rigors of w T ar, amid which Napoleon was rapidly 
advancing to the summit of his power, shut out diplo- 
macy on the subject of the marriage. 

Returning to our documentary history, it appears 
that the " gentleman who came with John," mentioned 
in Mr. Robert Patterson's letter of the 21st of July, 
was no less a personage than Mons. P. de Maupertuis, 
who had been visiting in America. 

Departing from our main subject again into the wilds, 
and retracing our steps to about the beginning of the 
ides of March 1804, we take up another link in our 
chain of documentary history, which extends itself in 
a direct line toward the coronation of Napoleon and 
Josephine. During this unexpected excursion, we 
discover a wheel of powerful dimensions, and great 
capacities, propelled by a stream from the imperial 
fountain, toiling upon its ponderous gudgeons, wading 
deeply in waste-water, and winding its numberless 
leagues of cable, to draw Jerome from the " young 
person to whom he has attached himself," that he 
may be in France in time to figure in the fascinating 



120 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

festivities of the approaching coronation. Maupertuis 
is at the wheel, and we will allow him to tell his own 
story in his own language, and we furnish the best 
translation we have in store. 

Dating " Paris le 8 Mars 1804," he writes:— 

•- Je viens, mon cher Alexandre, de recevoir une lettre de 
vous par laquelle je me suis apperc.ii que les miennes ne vous 
etaient pas parvenues. Je ne vous dirai pas en gascon que je 
vous en ai ecrit plusieurs, mais au moins deux. Soyez bien 
convaincu, mon cher ami, que P absence n'a nullexaent affaibli 
mon attachenient, mais vous savez qu'il faut aimer ses amis 
avec leurs defauts, et c'est toujours sur ce principe que je me 
sauve avec les miens. Vous me parlez des plaisirs de Paris, 
du tourbillon dont je suis environne. Vous voyez les choses 
de loin, et seriez bien etonne" de la vie que j'ai menee tout cet 
hiver : il me tarde, je vous jure, d'en etre sorti, et qa ne tardera 
pas. Quelle difference si M. J. B. y avait 6te ! que de fois 
j'ai regrett6 de ne pas le voir figurer dans les ceremonies ou 
il aurait eu une aussi belle place ! Mais comme vous le dites, 
le malheur vous poursuit, et vous me rendez assez de justice 
pour croire a quel point j'en suis affiige. 

•' Ecrivez-moi, je vous prie, a Rotterdam le plus souvent que 
vous pourrez •, marquez-moi la vie que vous menez. Votre 
hiver n'aura pas ete surement aussi gai que le dernier. Vous 
avez vu par la place que je viens d ? avoir, que l'homme propose 
et Dieu dispose*, tous mes projets ont ete bouleverses en un 
intant, mais je suis trop heureux, et il ne me reste plus qu'a 
meriter Tauguste bienveillance que l'E. m'a t^moignee. Vous 
aurez eu un instant de consolation au passage d'Auguste aux 
Etats-Unis. II y a un siecle que je n'ai reQu des nouvelles des 
miens. Comme vous avez beaucoup d'occasions pour Rotter- 
dam, donnez-m'en, je vous prie, de notre pays. Voila la belle 
saison qui arrive • profitez des batiments qui ne tarderont pas 
a faire voile • faites-moi aussi le plaisir de dire au cher Docteur 
mille choses affectueuses de ma part. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE 121 

Rappellez-moi au souvenir de toutes les personnes qui m'ont 
fcemoigne quelque bienveillance ; mes respects a Mile. Spear a 
Mde. McDognall ; enfin distribuez a qui de droit ce leger tribut 
de ma gratitude. Adieu, nion cher Alexandre, pensez quelque- 
fois a quelqu ? un qui vous est bien attache et que' vous devez 
croire sincerement votre ami. P. De Maupertuis." 

TRANSLATION. 

" My dear Alexander — I have just received one of 
your letters by which I see that you have not received 
mine. I will not tell you like a gascon, that I have 
written many, but at least two. Be well persuaded, 
my dear friend, that absence has not weakened my 
affections, I am a little lazy, but you know we must 
love our friends with their faults ; and it is always on 
this principle, that I escape with mine. You speak 
to me of the pleasures of Paris — of the society by 
which I am surrounded. You see the thing from afar, 
and would be astonished at the life I have led 
all this winter. I long, I swear it to you, to be out 
of it, and this will take place before long ! How dif- 
ferent if Mr. Jerome Bonaparte had been here. How 
many times I have regretted not to see him figure in the 
ceremonies, where he would have had so fine a place ! 
But as you say, misfortune pursues him, and you will 
render me justice enough to say how much I am 
afflicted by it. I pray you write to me at Rotterdam 
as often as you can. Let me know what kind of life 
you lead. Surely your winter has not been so pleasant 
as the last one. 

" You will see by the office that I have just been 
appointed to, that man proposes and God disposes. 
8 



1 22 THE B ONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MAURI A GE. 

All my projects have been overthrown in one instant ; 
but I am happy that I have now only to deserve the 
benevolence that the Emperor has shown me. You 
will have some consolation from the passage of Au- 
gust to the United States. It is an age since I have 
received any news from my friends. As you have a 
great many opportunities to send to Rotterdam, let 
me have some news from our country. 

" The fine season is coming. Take advantage of 
the ships that will soon sail. Do me also the pleas- 
ure to say a thousand affectionate things on my part 
to the dear doctor. Remember me to the persons 
who have manifested an interest in me. My respects 
to Mrs. McDonald and to Miss Spear. In fine, dis- 
tribute to those who have any right to this tribute, 
my gratefulness. Farewell, my dear Alexander, 
think sometimes of one who is sincerely connected to 
you by the ties of affection, and sincerely believe me 
to be your friend, P. de Maupertuis. 

This letter was, no doubt, addressed to Alexander 
Le Camus, whose name will shortly appear on a 
future page of this book, in a very interesting con- 
nection. After M. Le Camus had kept this letter for 
sometime, it appears that he gave it to Mr. Robert 
Patterson in Amsterdam to be forwarded by him to 
America for his father's inspection. 

In the same enclosure, comes another letter from 
the same writer. As before, we give the French and 
English both as they come to our hand. Dating 
Paris, 8th of March, as in the preceding letter, he 
pays \— - 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 123 

" Vous voyez, mon cher Chambry, par la date de ma lettre, 
que je suis encore dans cette belle ville. II y a cependant deja 
trois mois que je suis nomme a la place de Consul a Rotterdam, 
mais pour aller remplir mon emploi, il me faut des instruc- 
tions, et je ne les ai pas encore reQues. Je laisse mollement 
s'ecouler le temps en attendant que je sois a la besogne. Vous 
dire que j'ai rempli mon but en obtenant cette place, ce serais 
vous tromper, mais l'Empereur a eu la bonte de me l'offrir. 
C'est un des premiers consulats, et des plus delicats a remplir 
dans cette circonstance ; et je me suis trouve trop heureux de 
servir le heros pour lequel vous connaissez mon enthousiasme. 
J'espere que la maniere dont je m'acquitterai de cet emploi 
me fera faire rapidement mon chemin. Vous me demanderez 
peut §tre quelles sont mes pretentions ! 1' ambition. Eh bien ! 
oui — jamais je ne me suis trouv6 dans une aussi belle passe; 
l'age s'avance, et il n'y a rien de pis que de vegetter dans une 
passive vieillesse. Vous connaissez mon attachement immuable 
pour M. J. B. ; il ne manque ici que sa personne pour com- 
pleter mon bonheur. 

" J'ai requ de lui ces jours passes, une lettre par laquelle il 
m' engage a aller le rejoindre. Que ne donnerais-je pas pour 
en avoir la faculte ! mais c'est chose impossible d'obtenir. 
J'ose esperer qu'il me rendra justice. Dites-lui, je vous prie, 
que rien dans le monde ne saurait alterer mon attachement. 
S'il ne fallait que sacrifier pour le servir toutes mes esperances, 
je croirerais encore peu faire pour tous les temoignages d'amitie 
qu'il n'a cesse de me donner dans un siecle ou on ne manque 
que trop ses sentiments sur le degre de faveur ou sont por- 
ters les personnes, ou ou ose a peine laisser entrevoir ceux 
qu'on 6prouve pour des etres interessants accables sous le poids 
du malheur. Jamais pareil calcul n'a pen6tre chez moi. Je 
suis attache a M. J. B. Je l'ai dit a l'E., qui malgre tout son 
courroux n'a pu me blamer. Je ne me suis pas trouve une fois 
avec Flmperatrice que je vois souvent, sans lui en parler. Ma- 
dame sa mere, le Prince Louis me rendront justice a cet egard ; 
maise helas ! que peuvent les voeux steriles que je forme con- 
tinuellement? 



124 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

u Je n'ose lui ecrire ; quels conseils pourrai-je lui dormer? II 
faut qu'il ait ete poursuivi bien obstinement par une fatale 
destinee pour l'empecher d'arriver ici vers l'epoque du sacre. 
Sa resignation, les circonstances ou nous nous trouvions, eussent 
peutetre calme la rigueur de l'E. J'ai lu ces jours derniers 
dans la gazette un paragraphe concernant son mariage qui ne 
laisse aucun doutes sur les intentions (au moins actuelles) de 
l'E. ; mais peutetre la presence de M. J. B. ferait elle changer 
ses dispositions. A sa place je reviendrais seul en France •, sa 
presence ferais plus que tout ce que pourront les sollicitations 
de qui que ce soit. Je lui ai envoye il y a quelques jours une 
lettre de Madame sa Mere qui a ce quelle m'a dit lui donne 
les seuls conseils qu'il ait a suivre. J'avoue que je crois l'E. 
tres irrite, mais que n ; a-t-on pas droit d'attendre d'un homme 
dont toutes les actions sont marquees au coin de la grandeur? 
M. J. B. expi^ra peut §tre par une disgrace momentanee la 
cause de ses chagrins, mais qui peut craindre un frere dont la 
conduite par la suite ne manquera pas de retablir dans tous 
ses droits ? 

" L'E. ainsi que l'Imperatrice se disposent a faire un voyage 
en Italie, qui, dit-on, doit durer 4 ou 5 mois ; on assigne a ce 
voyage differents motifs, mais personne ne les connaient au 
juste. Quant a moi, je partirai vraisemblablement d'ici a 15 
jours pour Rotterdam, ainsi si vous m'ecrivez et que je puisse 
vous §tre bon a quelque chose, adressez moi directement vos 
lettres dans cette ville. 

" Parlez, je vous prie, souvent de moi a M. J. B. Dites-lui 
combien je regrette de ne pouvoir me rendre a ses djesirs, 
Offrez-lui les assurances de mon respectueux d6vouement, ainsi 
qu'a l'interessante dame qui partage avec lui les rigueurs du 
sort. Mille compliments a M. Patterson' je vois son fils, qui 
est un charmant jeune homme, et avec qui vous auriez grand 
plaisir a faire connaissance. 

" Adieu, mon cher Chambry. Revenez-ici le plutot que vous 
pourrez. Conservez-moi votre amitie, et croyez a Tattache- 
ment sans bornes de votre d6vou6 

P. De Maupertuis." 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 125 
TRANSLATION. 

" You see, my dear Chambry, by the date of my 
letter that I am still in this fine city. Three months 
ago I was nominated Consul at Rotterdam ; but I am 
waiting for instructions, and I have not yet received 
them. I leave time to glide softly away in waiting 
till I shall be busy. In telling you that I have ob- 
tained my aims in obtaining this place, I would deceive 
you ; but the Emperor has had the kindness to offer 
it to me. It is one of the first consulships, and the 
most difficult to discharge the duties of, in the circum- 
stances, and I am but too happy to serve the hero for 
whom you know my enthusiasm. I hope that the 
manner in which I will discharge my duties will 
quickly raise me to a high position. Perhaps you 
will, ask me what are my pretensions — ambition ? 
Well, yes ! I have never found myself in so fine a 
situation. Time goes fast. There is nothing worse 
than to vegetate in a passive old age. 

u You know my immutable affection for Mr. Jerome 
Bonaparte. I want nothing but his presence to com- 
plete my happiness. I have lately received a letter 
from him in which he presses me to rejoin him. What 
would I not give to have the power to do so ? 
But it is impossible. I should want a leave of ab- 
sence which it would be impossible to obtain. I dare 
hope he will do me justice. Tell him that nothing 
in the world could alter my affection. If it was only 
necessary to sacrifice all my hopes to serve him, I 
should still think I was doing little for all the evi- 
dences of friendship which he has never ceased 



126 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

giving me in an age when we measure but too much 
our feelings by the degrees of favor which is shown 
to persons ; when we hardly dare to let any one 
see the feeling we have for an interesting being 
crushed down under the weight of misfortune. Never 
has such a calculation entered into my mind. I am 
attached to M. Bonaparte. I have said it to the 
Emperor, who, in spite of his wrath, has not been able 
to blame me. I have not been once with the Empress, 
whom I often see, without speaking to her of it. 
Madame his mother, and the Prince Louis will render 
me justice concerning this. But, alas ! of what avail 
are all the empty wishes I continually entertain ? 

"I dare not write to him! What advice can I 
give him? He must have been very obstinately 
pursued by a fatal destiny, to hinder him from 
arriving here about the time of the coronation. His 
resignation, and the circumstances in which we found 
ourselves, might perhaps have calmed the anger of 
the Emperor. 

"I have read lately in the paper a paragraph 
which leaves no doubt of the intentions of the Em- 
peror, at least for the time being ; but the presence of 
M. Jerome Bonaparte would perhaps change his dis- 
positions. In his place, I would come back alone to 
France. His presence would do more than all the 
solicitations of any one. A few days ago, I sent 
him a letter from Madame his mother, who, according 
to what she has told me, gave him the only counsel 
he must follow. I confess that I believe the Emperor 
is very much irritated ; but what have we not to ex- 



THE B ON A PARTE -PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 127 

pect from a man all whose actions are marked by 
' the stamp of greatness ? M. Jerome Bonaparte will 
perhaps atone, by a momentary disgrace, the cause 
of all his vexation. But who can fear a brother whose 
conduct will not fail in due time to re-establish all his 
rights ? 

" The Emperor and Empress are preparing for a 
journey to Italy, which it is said may last four or 
five months. People attribute different motives to 
this journey; but nobody knows them positively. 
As for me, it is very likely I shall start from this 
place to Rotterdam in about fifteen days. Thus, if 
you write to me, and I can be useful to you in any 
way, address me your letters directly in that city. 

" Speak, I pray you, often from me to M. Jerome 
Bonaparte. Tell him how much I regret not to be 
able to meet his wishes. Offer him the assurances of 
my respectful devotion ; also to the interesting lady 
who shares with him the rigors of fate. A thousand 
compliments to Mr. Patterson. I see his son, who is 
a charming young man, and with whom it would give 
you great pleasure to become acquainted. 

"Farewell, my dear Chambry. Come back h&re 
as soon as you can. Preserve me your friendship, 
and believe in the affections without limit of your 
devoted P. De Maupertuis." 

The letters of Maupertuis are without any address, 
but it appears that they were intended for some gen- 
tlemen at that time in America. In the preceding 
letter, he says of Jerome, "I dare not write to him." 



128 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

This perhaps will give the reason why his letters, with 
information for Jerome, are addressed to others. 

The next letter written by this gentleman, like the 
others, lacks the address, but we give it in full as we 
find it. 

" Paris, 28 Septembre 1804. 

il Je suis sur, mon cher Alexandre, que vous §tes fachecontre 
moi, parceque depuis longtemps vous n'avez pas recri directe- 
ment de mes nouvelles. Ne m'en voulez pas pour cela; beau- 
coup d'affaires, un peu de paresse, et la grande confiance que 
j'ai en votre amitie, voila mes seules excuses ; vous saurez 
deja que je suis place a Kotterdam, ou je dois me rendre ces 
jours-ci. Je ne dois cette place qu'aux bontes de l'Empereur, et 
vous sentez avec quel zele je la remplirai. 

"Dites bien des choses, je vous prie, pour moi au cher doc- 
teur, a Barney, a McKim et autres personnes qui veulent bien 
se ressouvenir du Baron, mes hommages respectueux a Madame 
McDonnal, et Mile. Spear. Je ne vous parle pas politique, je 
ne vous dis meme grand' chose, parceque le sort des lettres dans 
ci temps-ci est tres incertain. 

" Auguste vous aura dit combien nous avons parle de vous. 
II sera surement rendu a present a la Martinique. Adieu, 
mon cher Alexandre, pensez quelque fois a moi, et donnez-moi 
de vos nouvelles malgre ma paresse. Croyez a mon attache- 
ment. P. De Maupertuis." 

TRANSLATION. 

" I am sorry, my dear Alexander, that you are 
angry against me, because you have been so long 
without receiving any direct news from me. Do not 
be angry against me for that. A great deal of busi- 
ness, a little laziness, and the great confidence that I 
have in your friendship, are my only apology. You 
already know that I have a position at Rotterdam, 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 129 

whither I must go in a few days. I owe this place 
only to the kindness of the Emperor, and you know 
with what zeal I shall perform its duties. I pray you 
to say many things for me to the doctor, to Barney, 
to McKim, and other persons who are willing to re- 
member the Baron. Present my respects to Mrs. 
McDonnel and Miss Spear. I do not tell you anything 
about politics. I don't even say many things, because 
now-a-days the fate of letters is very uncertain. 
August will tell you how many times we have spoken 
of you. Surely he will have gone to Martinique for 
the present. 

" Farewell, my dear Alexander. Think sometimes 
of me, and let me have some news from you, in spite 
of my laziness. Believe in my affection. 

P. de Maupertuis." 

This writer, it appears, addresses his next letter to 
a friend in Amsterdam, and we give it in full. 

" Paris, 4 Brumaire, 1804. 

" J'ai regu avant hier, moil cher ami, a retour de la campagne, 
la lettre que vous m'avez fait l'amitie de m'ecrire. Je* suis 
bien convaincu que vous vous ennuyez mortellement a Rotter- 
dam, mais vous jouissez d'une bonne sante, et c'est la Tessentiel. 
Depuis bien longtemps je n'ai reQu des nouvelles de M. J. B. 
ni directement ni indirectement. Je suis bien fache qu'il n'ait 
pu se rendre en France avant le sacre. 

" C'etait le moment, et malgre le courroux de l'E. j'ose 
esperer que tout se serait arrange. Le sacre est remis decide- 
nient au 15 Frimaire. Le pape ne sera rendu que le 2 Paris. Si 
vous y venez, vous pourrez voir a votre aise la ceremonie ou 
du moins le cortege, sans avoir besoin d ? un billet, parcequ'il 
passera tout J e long des Boulevards pour se rendre a Notre 
Dame. Ce sera surement le plus beau spectacle qui se soit 



130 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

jamais vu. II me tarde bien que ce soit fait ; il ne nous manque 
qu'une paix g6n6rale pour §tre heureux. On ne croirait jamais 
qu'il ait eu une revolution en France, et on a beau dire il n'y 
avait dans le monde qu'un heros comme le notre capable 
d'operer un tel changement. 

" Je ne con^ois pas comment de certaines gazettes peuvent se 
plaire dans toutes leurs injures. Ce sont de ces libelles qui font 
peu d'honneur a leur redacteurs, car enfin quetions-nous il y 
a trois ans et a moins d'etre depourvus de tous sentiments 
d'humanit6, on ne peut qu'admirer et v6nerer le g£nie qui 
gouverne la France I Si vous recevez des nouvelles de la-bas 
ne manquez de me les donner ! Marquez-moi aussi si vous 
6tes decide a venir ici ! Adieu, mon cher ami, portez vous 
bien, et croyez a mon sincere attachement. 

" P. De Maupertuis." 

TRANSLATION. 

" Paris, October 24th 1804. 
" My dear friend : I received yesterday evening on 
returning from the country the letter which you have 
been so friendly as to write. I am well convinced 
that you are tired of Amsterdam, but you enjoy 
good health, and that is the essential thing. For 
a very long time I have not received any news from 
M. Jerome Bonaparte, neither directly nor indirectly. 
I am very sorry that he has not been able to return 
in France before the coronation. It was the proper 
time, and in spite of the wrath of the Emperor, I 
dare hope that all would have been satisfactorily 
settled. The coronation will take place on |the 15th 
Frimaire. The Pope will arrive in Paris on the 2d. 
If you come you will be able to see the ceremony in 
comfort, or at least the procession, without requiring 
a ticket, because it will pass all along the Boulevards 
to go to Notre Dame. It will certainly be the finest 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 131 

spectacle which has ever been seen. I long to see it 
take place. We only want a general peace to be 
happy. No one would believe there has been a revo- 
lution in France; and people may say what they 
please, there is only one hero in the world like ours 
able to accomplish such a change. I do not know how 
certain papers can delight in their abusive language. 
They utter libels w r hich do very little honor to their 
authors, for what were we less than three years ago ? 
and unless we are deprived of all feelings of humanity, 
we can but admire and revere the genius which rules 
Prance. If you receive any news from London let 
me know. Do not fail to tell me also if you are 
decided to come here. Farewell, my dear friend, 
keep in good health, and believe in my sincere affec- 
tion. P. de Maupertuis." 

Mons. Maupertuis still continues his correspond- 
ence from Paris, and the following letter came as an 
enclosure in Mr. Robert Patterson's letter from Paris, 
dated the 25th December 1804 :— 

11 Paris, le 25 Decembre 1804. 
" II y a quelques jours, mon cher Chainbry, que je recus une 
lettre de vous qui me fit le plus grand plaisir, parcequ'elle me 
donne l'espoir de vous revoir bientot ; les destinees en ont 
autrement ordonne. II faut se resigner, quoiqu'il en coute. 
Je ne sais si vous avez reQu toutes les lettres que j'ai eu le 
plaisir de vous ecrire, on ne sait en v§rite comment faire pour 
entretenir en temps de guerre une correspondance d'aussi loin. 
Si vous voyez M. J. B., dites-lui, je vous prie, de ne pas etre 
fache contre moi, si je ne lui ecris pas. Les lettres peuvent §tre 
prises, et les Anglais en font des gorges-chaudes dans leurs 
gazettes, ce dont on se moque j ce n'est pas la Fembarras, mais 



132 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

ga ne laisse pas que d'etre desagreable. Quant & nous autres 
simples particuliers, 1' inconvenient n'est pas aussi grand. Je 
mene toujours la meme vie ; il me tarde d'en sortir, ce qui ne 
tardera pas, car sa majesty a eu la bonte de me nommer au 
Consulat de Rotterdam, ou je compte me rendre aussit6t 1' ex- 
pedition de mes ordres. Si je peux vous §tre bon a quel que 
chose dans ce pays-la, disposez de moi sans faQon. Nous 
avons eu ici des fetes superbes. J'ai assiste a presque toutes 
les ceremonies, et comme j'y etais de coeur, vous sentez com- 
bien elles m'ont interesse. 

" Voila done la France revenue a un gouvernement apres 
lequel tous les honnetes gens aspiraient. Dieu veuille con- 
server celui qui en est le chef; e'est a present le voeu que 
forme tout bon FranQais. Que de fois au milieu de ces voeux- 
la, j'ai regrette de ne pas y voir M. J. B. ! II faut que le mal- 
heur lui en veuille bien pour qu'il trouve tant d' obstacles a son 
retour. Madame sa mere est arrivee ces jours derniers de 
Rome. J'ai ete lui rendre mes hommages hier ; il n'est pas 
possible d'en etre re<ju avec plus d' affability ; elle m'a beau- 
coup parle de M. son fils, et est tres affectee de sa disgrace. 
Elle doit m'envoyer aujourd'hui une lettre pour lui, que je 
renfermerai dans la mienne et que je vous prie de lui remettre. 

" Elle se plaint de n'en avoir pas re^u, ce qui n'est pas 6ton- 
nants, vu toutes les entraves de la guerre. II fera fort bien, je 
crois, de lui donner au plutot de ses nouvelles. J'ai remis a l'lm- 
peratrice celle que M. J. B. m'avait adressee pour Elle. II me 
parait qu'elle lui on ne peut plus attachee. Je suis convaincu 
que si M. J. B. arrivant ici et se jettant aux pieds de sou 
auguste frere, plaideront mieux la cause que les meilleurs 
avocats, quoiqu'il parait toujours indispose. J'ai envoy e il y a 
quelques temps a M. J. B. une lettre du Prince Louis qui sure- 
ment lui trac,ait la conduite qu'il a a tenir. Quant a moi je 
donnerais la moitie de mon existence pour qu'il fut rendu en 
France. Plus il tardera et plus l'Empereur sera irrite. Ce qui 
me rassure e'est que ce heros qui jusqu'a present a pardonne 
a ses plus grands ennemis ne sera pas inexorable a l'egard 
d'un frere qu'il cherit beaucoup. M. Patterson a eu la bonte 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 133 

de m'ecrire et de me faire part du malheureux naufrage de M. 
J. B. Personne n'a ete plus afflige de ce malheureux evene- 
ment que Mde. B. a du souffrir, mais il faut croire que c'est 
peut etre une catastrophe qui finira toutes leurs peines ! 

" Les deux fregates franchises sont arrivees a Lorient, apres 
une belle traversee qu'il eut ete heureux que M. J. B. eut pu 
profiter de cette occasion, il arrivait dans un bien beau mo- 
ment. A mon arrivee a Rotterdam je vous ecrirai, y ayant de 
frequentes occasions pour l'Amerique. J'ai vu ici M. Robert 
Patterson, qui est venu y passer quelques temps pour ses 
affaires de commerce ; il ecrit a M. son pere et se charge de vous 
faire parvenir cette lettre ; donnez-moi, je vous prie, des nou- 
velles. Offrez mes respects a M. et Mde. J. B. ; et croyez, mon 
cher Chambry, au devouement de votre sincere ami, 

"P. DE MaUPERTUIS." 

TKANSLATION. 

" My dear Chambry : A few days ago I received a 
letter which gave me the greatest pleasure, because it 
gave me the hope of seeing you soon again. The 
fates have ordered otherwise. We must be resigned, 
whatever it costs. I do not know if you have re- 
ceived all the letters that I .have had the pleasure 
of writing to you. Truly, we do not know how to 
carry on a correspondence at such a distance in time 
of war. If you see M. Jerome Bonaparte tell him, if 
you please, not to be angry against me if I do not write 
to him. The letters may be captured and the English 
make fun of them ; in their newspapers people laugh 
at them ; it is not of much consequence, but it is not 
the less unpleasant. As for us private individuals, the 
inconvenience is not so great. Here I always live in 
the same manner. I long to go out of it, which will 
not be long, for his Majesty has had the kindness to 



134 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

nominate me to the Consulship at Rotterdam, where I 
expect to go as soon as I shall have received my in- 
structions. If I can be of any use to you in that 
country, dispose of me as you think best. Here we 
have had splendid fStes. I have assisted in almost 
all the ceremonies, and as I was in sympathy with 
them you know how much they have interested me. 

"Behold, then, France returned to a form of go- 
vernment according to the wishes of all honest 
people ! God preserve him who is at the head of it ! 
It is now the prayer which all good Frenchmen make ! 
How many times in making these ejaculations have I 
regretted that M. Jerome Bonaparte is absent ! Mis- 
fortunes must pursue him eagerly, that he finds so 
many obstacles to his return. 

" Madame, his mother, is arrived lately from 
Rome. Yesterday I paid her a visit. It was im- 
possible to be received with more affability. She 
spoke a great deal about her son. She is very much 
affected by his disgrace. She will send me a letter 
to-day which I will enclose in mine, and I pray you 
to have the kindness to remit it to him. 

" She complains of not having received any letters ; 
which is not wonderful, considering all the impedi- 
ments of the war. I have remitted to the Empress 
the letter that M. Jerome Bonaparte had addressed 
to me for her. It appears to me that she is very 
much attached to him. I am satisfied that, if M. 
Jerome Bonaparte on arriving here throws himself at 
the feet of his august brother, he would plead his 
cause better than the best of lawyers, though he 
appeared so very much dissatisfied some time ago. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON 3IARRIAGE. 135 

" I send a letter from the Prince Louis to M. 
Jerome Bonaparte, showing him what course to pur- 
sue. I would give half my existence for his return 
to France. The more he delays, the more the Empe- 
ror will be irritated. But what reassures me is, that 
the hero who, till now, has forgiven his greatest ene- 
mies, will not be inexorable regarding a brother 
whom he cherishes so much. Mr. Patterson has had 
the goodness to write to me, and let me know the un- 
happy shipwreck of M. Jerome Bonaparte. Nobody 
has been more afflicted, or has suffered more by this 
unhappy event than Mrs. Jerome Bonaparte ; but we 
must believe that this is perhaps a catastrophe w T hich 
will finish all their sorrows. 

" The two frigates are arrived at L'Orient after a 
fine voyage. It would have been well if M. Jerome 
Bonaparte had been able to profit by this opportunity. 
He would have arrived at the most propitious mo- 
ment. After my arrival at Rotterdam I will write to 
you, having frequent opportunities for America. I 
have seen Mr. Robert Patterson, who has come to 
pass some time upon his commercial affairs. He writes 
to his father, and takes charge to remit you this 
letter. Please let me have some news from you. 
Present my respects to Mrs. and Mr. Jerome Bona- 
parte, and believe my dear Chambry, in the devotion 
of your true friend, P. de Maupertuis." 

In this letter Maupertuis fully describes himself, 
and at the time of writing, the coronation referred to 
in several of his letters had taken place at the altar 



13G THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

of Notre Dame ; and the world had been dazzled by 
the sight, and the following description of it. It 
took place on the 2d of December 1804, Pope Pius 
VII., then in Paris, officiating. 

"When his Majesty the Emperor approached the 
altar to be crowned, he took the imperial crown him- 
self and placed it upon his head. It was a diadem 
of oak and laurel leaves in gold. His Majesty after- 
wards took the crown destined for the Empress, and 
after having decorated himself with it for a moment, 
he placed it upon the head of his august consort. 
The firmness, grandeur, and nobleness of her manner 
drew from every quarter shouts of admiration and 
joy. The mixed dignity, grace, and modesty marked 
by every one in the demeanor of the Empress in 
quitting the canopy under which she had been re- 
ceived at the entrance of Notre Dame, are the theme 
of general conversation/ ' 



CHAPTER VI. 

Maupertuis retires — Napoleon appears again — His prestige 
— Battle of Austerlitz — Young couple contemplate sailing — 
Reflections on the embarkation — Robert Patterson on specula- 
tion — General Smith again — P. Cuneo De Ornano — His letter 
— Mr. Patterson's letter — General Armstrong — Letter from 
M. Meyronet to Jerome — Mr. Patterson alarmed — He writes 
in cipher — The Moniteur — Lucien Bonaparte in prison — 
Jerome to be thrown in prison — Betsy to be sent back— The 
young couple embark for Europe — Departure from Baltimore 
— General Tuerreau, French Minister — Jerome's horses — Mr. 
Carrere — ''London-particular-three-years-old wine" — General 
Rewbell's letter — Jonathan Jones — Wet letters — Bordeaux 
Gazette. 

Maupertuis, a small asteroid, revolving around the 
Napoleonic centre, after affording the very agreeable 
light from the letters which appear in the preceding 
chapter, goes out, and we shall see him no more as a 
correspondent ; yet he has engraved his name in the 
indestructible flint of words ; and he will not therefore 
be forgotten by the generations of men whose coming 
quickened his departure. With the Christmas fes- 
tivities of 1804, he disappears, to take charge of his 
Consulate at Rotterdam, and from him we hear no 
more secrets from the throne. 

Bidding farewell to the year 1804, we enter upon 

a detail of the wonderful events of 1805. In this 

year, Napoleon answers the charges of territorial 

usurpations by encroachments upon the North of 

9 (137) 



138 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Europe ; and a war is about to be precipitated which 
will deluge the continent with blood. Napoleon will 
be crowned King of Italy, and the battle of Auster- 
litz will be fought. As " westward the star of empire 
holds its way," so flows the tide of conquest south- 
ward ; and Napoleon, discovering this perhaps in ad- 
vance of his cotemporaries, marches northward in 
time to check it, and the prestige of a descent upon 
him. He knew that war conducts itself by prestige 
and by panic. These go before a moving army. 
Prestige dazzles and demoralizes the enemy ; panic 
takes him prisoner ; the army moves up, and the vic- 
tory is easy. If therefore the combined armies, 
opposed to Napoleon at the battle of Austerlitz, could 
have availed themselves of the advantages of time 
and marched down upon Napoleon, the prestige would 
have been with them, panic would have seized the 
French, and Paris would have yielded to the forces 
of siege. Bonaparte's main victories were won from 
the prestige that accompanied him on his grand 
marches ; and we cannot see that he gained a victory 
at Austerlitz by any superior abilities he possessed, 
but by the advantage he took of a blunder caused by 
the panic which had gone before him, and seized a 
division of the allied armies. 

In the midst of the most extensive preparations for 
war, when Napoleon is giddy from the adulterated 
wines of exaltation, and when he is fondly dreaming 
that his dominion and that of his family will be an 
" everlasting dominion," the wife of Jerome goes to 
Europe. Already, in America, she is hemmed in by 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 139 

rising clouds, and to cross the Atlantic is but to quail 
and quiver before an awful squall. None save heart- 
less eyes will behold her in France even, if, after her 
voyage, she should be allowed to refresh herself on 
its territory. Her fame and beauty go before her, 
and sadly wait her coming. There, a friend she will 
fear to make, for the smiles which she may behold 
will be those provoked by the demon of deception ; 
and unforgiven monsters will perhaps eagerly pursue 
her. In the warm floral spring of hope she will rejoice 
awhile before she embarks ; but even then, in her 
rejoicings, she will behold in her future much of the 
autumnal and but little of the vernal. But she must 
go to Europe ! The strange music of the billow will, 
for a season, charm away her misgivings, and inspire 
her with hope that her arrival will strike the cold 
steel of Napoleon's heart, and bring out, at last, a 
spark of leniency. This is all. 

Whilst the young couple indulge in the festivities 
of the society of Baltimore during the winter pre- 
vious to their embarkation for Europe, we will place 
before the reader another letter from Mr. Robert 
Patterson, who is passing the winter in Paris. On 
account of the historical interest it possesses, we give 
the letter in full. It is addressed to his father. 

" Paris, 7th January 1805. 
" Dear Sir, 

" I am now to explain to you a speculation I 
have in view, which, if it can be executed, cannot 
fail of proving immensely advantageous. Our govern- 
ment are very desirous of obtaining from Spain a 



140 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

cession of East Florida. This object, I think, will 
soon be effected, either by the direct negotiation now 
carrying on, or else by the mediation of this govern- 
ment. 

" My wish is to endeavor to get a grant from the 
court of Madrid for some of the unappropriated lands 
in that country, previous to its being ceded to the 
United States ; and I do not apprehend there will be 
much difficulty in doing it — as what they may get in 
this w r ay will be so much saved ; for all the lands of 
this description would of course be ceded without re- 
muneration, as in the case of Louisiana, if a cession 
of the jurisdiction of the country is made to the 
United States. 

" It is imagined there are about 3,000,000 of acres 
unlocated, the whole of which may be probably pur- 
chased at 3, 4, or 5 cents per acre. This business 
has appeared to me so important that I have written 
to Lucien, mentioning it to him, and saying at the 
same time everything I thought necessary to induce 
him to take an interest in it, either for himself, or 
Jerome, to whom I have said it would be a secure and 
brilliant fortune. His answer aught to be here in 
three or four weeks. If he approves of the plan, 
and the cession is retarded sufficiently to give me an 
opportunity, I shall set out to see him in order to 
make the arrangements to carry it into execution. 
If he joins in it, we can treat for the whole ; but if 
he does not, we must endeavor ' to get grants for the 
choicest of them. There is a part w r ell adapted to 
the culture of sea-island cotton. We will make our- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 141 

selves well informed as to the local situation of the 
country, so that, if we cannot embrace the whole, we 
may make a judicious selection. Mr. O'Meally, with 
whom you are no doubt acquainted, is the person to 
whom I am indebted for the hint of the speculation. 
He will embark $20,000 in it, and I shall interest 
you as far as from $25,000 to $30,000, provided it 
can be executed .upon the terms I have stated. If I 
could with any kind of propriety mention to you the 
person that the scheme originated with, you would be 
satisfied it is well conceived, and is not impracticable 
in execution. Be assured, however, that I prize too 
much your good opinion and confidence to embark 
you in a speculation in which I do not see my way 
very clear ; and I shall weigh every circumstance in 
the present before I commit you. Do not lose any 
time in giving me your opinion in the fullest manner 
on this subject. I beg what I have said may not be 
communicated to any person, lest it might injure 
those who are concerned. 

" The business of the claims is progressing pretty 
rapidly. Many of them have passed the last ordeal — 
the inspection of our ambassador, and that of the 
minister of finance here. The whole affair will shortly 
be terminated by an emission of the bills. It cannot 
but afford you pleasure to learn that our worthy 
friend Bentalou has received $40,000. This sum 
will make him comfortable the remainder of his life. 
He will have to receive on account of the bills of 
others to the amount of 700,000 francs. He intends 
remitting them to you for collection, and to be paid 



142 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

over to the proprietors, after deducting his com- 
missions ; and the expenses incurred in prosecuting 
them. He tells me Mr. Skipwith represents about 
6,000,000, which he will probably send to you also for 
collection ; and that he intends, in case of determin- 
ing on this, to make a proposal to me to pay him his 
commissions, and the expenses due him from them, 
amounting to about $80,000, in this place, twelve 
months after the bills are sent from hence. He ex- 
pects to be paid at the rate of 108 sous for the dollar. 
I give you this as I received it. When I have his 
proposals, I shall make the best terms I can as to 
commissions, &c. Bentalou will want about $20,000 
on account of his claims. I will let him have it at 
the discount that may be established, which I expect 
will be about 10 per cent. Skipwith will probably 
require as much — not more, however ; and in the event 
of his putting the business I have spoken of into our 
hands, I shall accommodate him on the same terms. 
Exchange on Holland is not quite so disadvantageous 
as it was. I could draw at this moment without losing 
more than one per cent. 

" In a short time, I will have it in my power to 
inform you more particularly with regard to the land 
affair, and what is the result of the claim business, 
that you may make your arrangements accordingly. 

" 9th January. — Our friend Maupertuis is making 
preparations to repair to his consulate at Rotterdam. 
To assist him in his outfits, I have given him a draft 
on S. & H. for F3000 current money. He returns 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 143 

me his obligation for the like sum with interest, 
payable in twelve months. 

" The negotiation for East Florida is to be trans- 
ferred from Madrid to this place. I am sure this 
matter will not be so easily arranged as I first thought. 
Our government expected to have got that country by 
giving as a recompense the claims of its citizens on 
Spain for depredations, and will not consent to pay 
another farthing out of the treasury for the purchase 
of territory. The language of this government is, 
we willy as the friends of Spain, take care of her 
interests ; we will treat with yon for the country ; but 
it is absurd to suppose you can have it for nothing ; 
and toe will be satisfied without recompense for our 
interference. 

" The government of the United States think they 
have a right to the country, and will very probably 
take it by force of arms. If you see any movement 
of our troops which indicates such an intention, I 
would advise you instantly desisting from any ship- 
ments to France, Spain, and Holland even, as I do 
not think property would be secure in either country. 

" I shall of course give Mcllhenny & Glennie 
timely information, that they may stop any of our 
vessels which may call with them, in case it should be 
necessary. The cession may, however, be still brought 
about in an amicable manner, and without any ex- 
pense to our government, which is by Spain's giving 
jurisdiction of the country to us as an off-set to the 
demands of our citizens on her, and by raising a 
company in Holland which might, for a grant of the 



144 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

unappropriated lands, give a sufficient sum to the 
officers of this government to recompense them for 
their mediation. If anything of this nature is deter- 
mined on, it is not improbable that I may be employed 
in the business, as they know my acquaintance with 
Holland. My last letter to you was of the 25th ult. 
In this I recommended Jerome's returning alone to 
France, and his sending his wife to Holland. Nothing 
has occurred since to induce me to think a different 
conduct advisable. 

" Yours very affectionately, 

" Robert Patterson." 

Under date of January 13th 1805, Gen. Samuel 
Smith, then a member of Congress, writes to William 
Patterson, Esquire, in Baltimore. From his letter we 
copy the following paragraph : 

" Mr. Bonaparte arrived here at eleven o'clock. He 
is well, and Nancy is in high spirits. Tell Betsy 
that I have called twice on Stuart, but he was from 
home." 

This locates Bonaparte in Washington and his wife 
in Baltimore for the present; but we cannot enlighten 
the reader so much as to give a biographical sketch 
of " Nancy." 

In compliance with the order of time in which 
events successively occur, we pause again to bring in 
another writer. He hails from St. Croix de Tene- 
riffe, writes good French, it is said, and we give his 
letter in full : — 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 145 

a St. Croix cle Teneriffe, le 30 Nivose, an 2 Empire fran. 
Le Comraissaire des Relations Commerciales de V Empire 
Francois aux Canaries, 

A Son Altesse Imperiale le Prince Jerome Bonaparte : 

" Je ne doute point, qu'etant si eloigne de TEurope, V. A. 
Imperial ne rec,oit avec plaisir les nouvelies d'un concitoyen, qui 
a l'honneur de vous faire des compliments sur votre mariage, 
et fait des voeux pour votre prosperity, et de 1' amiable prin- 
cesse, que vous avez cru digne de votre choix. Elle est parfaite. 
ment connu par Mde. Dumestre, qui se trouve actuellement 
dans cette ville ; pour tout ce qu'elle me dit, elle brillera a Paris, 
etfera les delices de votre auguste famille, et de la societe. Je 
serais fort heureux si a votre retour le hazard pouvaitme pro- 
curer l'honneur de vous recevoir en ce port, et vous procurer 
quelques rafraichissements. 

u Je ne puis vous dormer des nouvelies fraiches de la France. 
Lesdernieresquej'aireQusontdateesdulS Brumaire. La guerre 
entre l'Espagne et S. M. I. est declaree, ce qui rend notre cor- 
respondance tres difficile. Le meurtre de 300 sujets de S. M., 
^enlevement d'un tresor considerable et par une agression pre- 
meditee, ont aliene le reste d'attachement ou du moins des rap- 
ports, qui subsistait encore entre les deux cours. Dans cette 
conjoncture actuellement critique, mais qui par Pavenir ne tour- 
nera qu'a la destruction plus certaine de la puissance anglaise. 

u Le sacre de S. M. I. avait ete renvoye au 4 Nivose. Le 
pape etait attendu ainsi que la Princesse Votre Mere, et le Car- 
dinal Fesch. Les preparatifs pour cette auguste ceremonie 
annoncent les plus grandes rejouissances. 

" Ceux qu'on fait pour la descente en Angleterre s'executent 
avec la plus grande vigueur qui etonne, quoique personne ne 
peut penetrer les intentions de S. M. I. On est generalement 
persuade, qu'elle pourras'effectuer malgre larigueur del'hiver. 
Dieu fasse que tout- aille bien au gre des desirs de tout bon 
Francais. Une nouvelle est r6pandue et dont je ne puis vous 
assurer, que la flotte de Brest composee de 27 vaisseaux sous 
le commandement de l'Amiral Gonteaume est sortie en trom- 



146 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

pant la vigilance des Anglais. Si elle est vraie, nous appren- 
drons bientot quelque coup funeste portje sur nos ennemis. 

u Nos troupes sont a Hambourg, on s'est empare de tous les 
comptoirs anglais. 

u Je desire que cette lettre vous parvienne. elle me procurait 
l'avantage de recevoir des nouvelles de S. A. I. Daignez dis- 
poser de votre Concitoyen a> T ec 1' assurance du plus grand 
attach em en t, et du plus profond respect. 

" Cuneo D'Ornano." 

TRANSLATION. 

" St. Croix of Teneriffe, 

" January 20th 1805. 
" The Commissary of Commercial Relations of the 

French Empire to the Canaries, 
" To His Imperial Highness 

The Prince Jerome Bonaparte : 

" I do not doubt that, being so far from Europe, 
your Imperial Highness will receive with pleasure the 
news of your fellow-citizen w T ho has the honor to 
compliment you on your marriage, and heartily pray 
for your prosperity, and that of the lovely princess 
you have thought worthy of your choice. 

" She is perfectly known by Mrs. Dumestre, w T ho is 
now in this city. Mrs. Dumestre tells me she will 
shine in Paris, and constitute the delight of your 
august family and of society. I should be most happy 
if, in your return home, I should be lucky enough to 
receive you in this port and procure you some re- 
freshments. 

" I cannot give you any new intelligence from 
France. The latest I have received is dated the 18th 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 147 

Brumaire (12th November.) War between Spain and 
H. I. M. is declared, which renders our correspon- 
dence very difficult. 

" The murder of three hundred subjects of H. I. 
M., and the capture of considerable treasure by pre- 
meditated aggression, have alienated the remaining 
ties, or rather the relations which existed between the 
two courts, and in this critical conjuncture, will in 
future turn to the sure destruction of the English 
power. 

" The coronation of H. I. M. has been postponed to 
the 25th of January. The Pope was expected, as 
well as the Princess your mother, and Cardinal Fesch. 
The preparations for this august ceremony portend a 
time of great rejoicing. Those which are made for the 
landing in England are going on with the greatest 
vigor, but nobody can penetrate the designs of H. I. 
M. People are generally persuaded that it will take 
place in spite of the rigors of winter. God grant 
that all may turn out to the satisfaction of all good 
Frenchmen. A report has been spread abroad, that 
the Brest fleet, composed of twenty-seven ships of the 
line under the command of Admiral Gonteaume, has 
sailed out, evading the vigilance of the English. If 
this is true, we shall soon hear of some heavy blow 
given to the enemy. 

" Our troops are in Hamburg, and have taken pos- 
session of all the English factories. I w T ish that you 
may receive this letter, in order that I may receive 
some news of H. I. H. Please consider me at your 
service, with the assurance of the greatest affection 



148 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

and the greatest respect. Your most humble and 
obedient servant, 

P. Cuneo D'Ornano." 

On the 29th January 1805, Mr. Patterson writes 
again to his father in Baltimore. His letter is of no 
interest whatever to a reader at this late day. It is 
ptincipally of a commercial character, giving prices 
current, &c. ; but those paragraphs which have a bear- 
ing upon our subject, we copy. He says : " Respecting 
the business I opened to you in my letter of the 7th 
and 9th inst., we wait for the answer to my letter to 
Rome before we take any measures in the business. 
Mr. Monroe in a letter from Madrid states that that 
court has it in contemplation to throw open the trade 
of its colonies to all neutral nations, on the condition 
that the adventurers will pay at Madrid by anticipa- 
tion the duties on their cargoes. You may depend 
on this information being correct. I would not how- 
ever wish it mentioned as from me. 

" As an accommodation to our friend Bentalou, I 
have agreed to lend him $10,000, and have written to 
S. & H. to remit me a bill to that amount. I am to 
be reimbursed by a purchase of the bills, if I like the 
terms on which claims of this description sell at; 
otherwise, he will take up his obligation for the money 
lent, allowing me interest on the same. I have a 
perfect recollection of your maxims on this head ; but 
you must allow there are situations in which a devia- 
tion from them may be permitted, and this is one. 
He is a very worthy man, and the friendly interest he 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 149 

takes in our concerns really lays us under obligations 
to him. It is thought the bills will be issued in the 
course of two or three weeks. Bentalou has claims 
of his own passed amounting to $40,000, and repre- 
sents others for about 600,000 francs, which, as I 
mentioned to you before, are to be remitted you for 
collection. 

" I have seen Mr. Skipwith once since I wrote you. 
He mentioned to me that he expected to receive about 
six or seven millions of francs, and that he would also 
send them to you for collection. He did not say any- 
thing about the appropriation of his commissions. 

u General Armstrong thinks from the result of the 
inquiries- he has made respecting Jerome, that per- 
mission has been given him to return with his wife ; 
and that though she may not be immediately recog- 
nised, she will ultimately, on his making the proper 
submissions for engaging himself so precipitately, 
without having obtained the approbation of his family. 

" At the solicitations of a gentleman in Amsterdam 
who showed me some civility, I promised to send to 
America for a pipe or half a pipe of London-particu- 
lar-three-years-old wine for him. Have the goodness 
to send one in the spring, of that kind. 

" A number of Jerome's bills which were lying over 
have been accepted within a few days. We have had 
a paragraph in the newspapers taken from one in a 
New York paper of the 5th of December, stating that 
Jerome and his lady sailed from that city in the Presi- 
dent French frigate, on the 2d of December." 

We give as next in the order of time a letter, in 



150 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON 31 A RR I A GE. 

full, written from Paris by M. Meyronet, who says he 
is about to embark as second captain of the frigate 
Canonniere. It is addressed on the cover " Monsieur 
Jerome Bonaparte, Etats Unis D'Amerique." He 
does not beg Jerome to leave the "young person " in 
America, and come alone to France. Indeed he holds 
out no inducements for him to come, but rather en- 
courages him to stay, and expresses a desire to be 
with him in America. Here is his letter : — 

Paris, le 18 Pluviose, an 13. 

" Monsieur : II est probable que lorsque eette lettre vous par- 
viendra, vous aurez rec^u quelques unes de ines precedents, et 
par cette raison je crois supernu de vous en rappeller leur 
contenu. Mais les derniers ev6nements dont j'ai a vous in- 
former me conduisent a vous repeter combien j'ai ete afflige 
de n'etre pas rev§tu de toute votre confiance dans une circon- 
stance ou j'aurais pu faire un usage bien cher a mon ame. Je 
crains bien que vous n'ayez pas rencontre ailleurs des dispo- 
sitions, telles que vous les aviez supposees. Je dis seulement 
je le crains, sans que j'en aie pour cela la preuve ou indice 
certain, et je serais au desespoir de vous faire retirer votre 
estime de personnes, qui n'auraient point cesse de la meriter. 
Mais, vous savez que plusieurs de mes suppositions ce sont autre- 
fois realisees, et les evenements semblent justifier un peu celles- 
ci. Quoiqu'il en soit, je ne fais nul doute que si vous aviez 
ete bien servi comme vous deviez vous y attendre, tel evene- 
ment dont j'ai a gemir aujourd'hui n'aurait pas eu lieu. 

11 Un decret imperial declare le Mar6chal Murat Prince, et 
le nomme Grand- Amiral. Un autre decret declare M. Eugene 
Beauharnais Prince, et le nomme Archi-Chancelier d'Etat de 
l'Empire. Je vous envoie par une autre voie une gazette ou 
sont ces deux decrets, ainsi qu'un troisieme qui nomme soixante 
cordons rouges. Vous en recevrez la liste. L' Amiral Gon- 
teaume, qui commande l'armee de Brest, est du nombre, ainsi 
que le Ministre de la Marine. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON 3IARRIAGE. 151 

11 S. M. FEmpereur a ecrit au roi d'Angleterre pour lui faire 
des ouvertures de paix ; ce dernier a repondu en eludant. 
Toutes fois les esperances de paix restent encore. 

"Jevousprie d'excuser ce brouillon. Je pars a l'instant 
pour Cherbourg, o& je dois etre einbarque" en second sur la 
fregate La Canonniere, qui doit partir incessaniruent pour une 
destination qui me rapprochera un peu de vous. Je fais des 
vceux pour qu'elle m'en rapproche tout-a-fait. 

" Toute la famille imperiale se porte bien. Mde. la Prin- 
cesse Borghese seule ne jouit pas d'une parfaite sante. Mon- 
sieur Lucien est toujours, je crois, en Italie, le reste de la 
famille a Paris. 

" Je ne sais desormais quels voeux je dois former pour vous ; 
je desire que vous soyez heureux, et je le serai moi-meme de 
l'apprendre. 

" J'ai l'honneur de vous reiterer les assurances de mon in- 
violable attachement et de mon respect. 

el Meyronet. 

"P. S. Permettez, Monsieur, que je salue ici ces messieurs 
qui m'ont probablement oublie." 

TRANSLATION. 

" Paris, February 7th 1805. 
" Sir— 

"It is probable that when you receive this 
letter, you may have received some of the preceding ; 
and for this reason, I think it is unnecessary to re- 
mind you of what they contain. But the last events 
that have taken place, and of which I have to inform 
you, lead me to repeat how much I have been afflicted 
not to be intrusted with all your confidence in a cir- 
cumstance w T here I should have made a use of it very 
dear to my soul. I fear much you have not met else- 
where arrangements such as you had supposed them. 



1 52 THE B ONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MAR RIA GE. 

I say only that I fear, without having any certain 
indication ; and I should be in despair to make you 
withdraw your esteem from persons who should not 
have ceased to merit it ; but you know that several 
of my suppositions have formerly been realized, and 
the events seem to justify my fears. However k may 
be, I have no doubt that if you had been as well treated 
as you had a right to expect, such a result as I now 
lament would not have taken place. 

" An imperial decree declares Marshal Murat 
Prince, and styles him Grand Admiral. Another 
decree declares M. Eugene Beauharnais Prince and 
names him Arch- Chancellor of the state of the Em- 
pire. I send you by another way a newspaper in 
which these two decrees are inserted, as well as a third 
one, which names sixty crosses of the Legion of 
Honor. You will receive the list of them. 

" Admiral Gonteaume, who commands the army 
of Brest, is one of them, as well as the Minister of 
Marine. 

" His Majesty the Emperor has written to the King 
of England to make him propositions of peace. The 
latter has answered in an elusive manner, yet hopes 
of peace remain. 

"I beg you to excuse this rough copy. ,1 leave 
immediately for Cherbourg, where I must embark as 
second captain on the frigate Canonniere, which will 
sail immediately for a destination which will bring me 
nearer you. I could wish that it would bring me 
altogether to you. 

"All the Imperial family is in good health, 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 153 

the Princess Borghese excepted. M. Lucien is 
still, I believe, in Italy. The remainder of the fam- 
ily are in Paris. 

" I do not know henceforth what wishes I must 
form for you. I desire that you may be happy, and shall 
be happy myself to learn it. I have the honor to 
present you the assurance of my inviolable affection 
and respect ; and, sir, please permit me here to greet 
those gentlemen who have probably forgotten me. 

Meyronet." 

Mr. Robert Patterson is still in Paris. In spite of 
the "signs of the times" and the cold frosts of 
"Pluviose" he maintains his ground, collects facts, 
arranges them to suit, and writes interesting letters 
to his father. His next we give in full, on account 
of its general interest, and for the reason that it 
explains many things previously mentioned. He 
begins : — 

"Paris, 16th February 1805. 

" Dear Sir : My last was of the 29th ult., in 
original and duplicate, via Bordeaux. I enclose you 
the Holland tariffs for the last ten years, by which I 
would advise your examining all of your sales made 
during that period. If you find you have been over- 
charged in duties, as I suspect will be the case, send 
the accounts to me with the proper powers to enable 
me to act, and I have little doubt but I can compel 
them to disgorge. To proceed in this business with 
most effect, it would be well to inform me, as nearly 
as you can, at what time the different shipments 
10 



154 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

arrived at the Texel, that I may have recourse to the 
customs books, which I expect to accomplish with a 
few douceurs, to ascertain the exact sums paid in duties 
on the cargoes. If we fail in the attempt to recover 
in Holland, we should undoubtedly succeed in the 
United States by laying an attachment on their 
lands, provided we could prove by documents from 
the custom-house we had been charged more in duties 
than w T as paid. 

" I have had no letters for a long time from Mcll- 
henny and Glennie, so that I am at a loss to know 
with any degree of accuracy how our accounts stand. 
When I was leaving Holland, to prevent their being 
at any inconvenience during my absence, I directed 
them to write to S. & H. when they wanted re- 
mittances on our account, who would supply them. 
In conformity to those instructions they asked a 
remittance from S. & H. of ,£1970 sterling, which 
was remitted them on the 31st of last January. 

"Bentalou has given me his obligation for the 
money lent him, with a kind of mortgage on his claim 
also, to secure us in the event of any unforeseen 
accident. 

" The French tariff has just undergone a revision. 
The duty on coffee of the growth of their colonies is 
75 francs per quintal, but of the growth of other 
countries 100 francs. It will be of importance to 
attend to this in making shipments to France. 

"I am still without an answer from Rome. When 
it is received we shall go on to Madrid to ascertain if 
possible what will be required for the entire parcel. 



THE B ONAPA R TE- PA TTERS ON 31 APR I A GE. 1 55 

In possession of that knowledge, I can see on my 
return to Holland whether a company can be formed 
there or elsewhere to carry the operation into execu- 
tion. 

" The Rochfort fleet, consisting of five sail of the 
line and four frigates, sailed about a month ago. It 
had four or five thousand men on board. India is 
generally believed to be its destination. It is said 
the Brest fleet with fifteen or twenty thousand troops 
is ready to embrace the first opportunity of getting to 
sea, which it is also believed is intended for India. 
If India should be the theatre of the active warfare 
between England and France, there must necessarily 
be thrown open a vast field for our commerce in that 
country ; and as our interest w r ould be much promoted 
by one of us being there, I am willing, in case of 
John's returning, and you think my exertions will be 
more useful there than in Europe, to take his place. 

" I mentioned in my last a report stating that some 
bills lying over, which were said to be Jerome's, were 
taken up. I find since — at least have it from a 
tolerable source— that they were Pichon's and not 
Jerome's bills. I cannot learn that any of Jerome's 
are unpaid. 

" I wish to engage your interest in behalf of Mr. 
O'Meally, a gentleman to whom I am under obliga- 
tions, and for whom I have a sincere regard. He 
intends establishing himself at Bordeaux, with a view 
of transacting American commission business solely, 
and takes with him about $100,000, a capital that 
will enable him to conduct his concerns with ease to 



156 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

himself, and to afford every facility and advantage to 
his friends. It is said the Consul at Bordeaux has 
done so many improper things that there is little 
doubt but he will be removed. With a persuasion 
that this will be the case, his friends have advised his 
applying for the office. The application will be sup- 
ported by many respectable characters in Virginia, by 
his Baltimore friends, among which may be reckoned 
Mr. E. Johnston and Mr. MacKreary, and by our 
Minister here, General Armstrong. If you were to 
speak to W. Nicholas and to General Smith, and 
request them to further his application, I think they 
could, together with his friends, secure the place for 
him. His character is unimpeachable, and no person 
can in any respect be better qualified to fill the office 
with dignity and honor to himself and the country 
than him. I am very sure you will never have any 
reason to regret anything you may do for him in this 
business. 

U T. Lbvfxbe a t informs me that he saw a 
person yesterday who mentioned to him that he had 
just heard xur Rvc — 6, say that it was his determin- 
ation to x u b e p Q — r v a x e c b o f e a the mo- 
ment of his arrival, where he should remain till he 
brchiolxri his p o m x and v I b b o r i 
another which he should designate. 

" The gentleman thinks from the decided manner 
in which he spoke, that he will certainly put his 
threats into execution. L. and myself are now of 
opinion Q. will only be safe by remaining where he is. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 157 

Be on your guard when you receive advices different 
from other quarters." 

To this letter Mr. Robert Patterson does not place 
his signature. He evidently has become alarmed as 
to his own personal safety in Paris. The momentous 
words of the Emperor in cipher appear in a latter 
paragraph of the letter, and it would seem that the 
news came as he was about to close. It appears also 
that the Key to the cipher was already in the posses- 
sion of his father in Baltimore, by some private con- 
veyance. It did not come in the letter copied above. 
From the disguised words Robert plainly saw what the 
Emperor's intentions were, and was convinced of the 
extreme measures that would be resorted to on the 
arrival of Jerome in France. General Armstrong, it 
will be seen, was also of opinion that the Emperor 
would adhere to his intentions expressed in the words 
which were tremulously committed to cipher ; and yet 
the young couple are preparing to embark, the prep- 
arations going clandestinely on — he for France and 
she for Holland; and the letter freighted with this 
alarming intelligence may not reach Baltimore before 
the embarkation and the sailing ! What if it does ? 
Will they abandon their mad policy? 

The following Key will admit the reader to the 
mysteries of the two latter paragraphs in the letter 
just given, and perhaps be read with great curiosity : 

A n, B r, C p, D 5, Eo, F s, G c, H u, Id, J v, 
K x, L a, M/, N k, i, P^Q /, Re, S y, T g, 
U li, V m, W z, X t, YZ, Z q. 



158 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Using the above Key the paragraphs in question will 
read — " General Armstrong informs me that he saw a 
person yesterday who mentioned to him that the 
Emperor says that it was his determination to throw 
Jerome into prison the moment of his arrival, where 
he should remain till he repudiated his wife and mar- 
ried another which he should designate." 

" The gentleman thinks from the decided manner in 
which he spoke, that he will certainly put his threats 
into execution. General Armstrong and myself are 
now of opinion Jerome will only be safe by remaining 
where he is. Be on your guard when you receive 
advices different from other quarters." 

It will be remembered that Mr. Robert Patterson, 
in a former letter, mentioned a speculation in the un- 
appropriated lands of East Florida, in which he 
wished to interest Lucien Bonaparte for himself and 
Jerome ; and that he had written to Lucien at Rome on 
the subject, and was waiting a reply before his depart- 
ure for Madrid to put the scheme in operation. It 
does not appear that Lucien answered the letter, and 
becoming tired of waiting, he pens the following letter 
to his father, which we give in full, with its enclosures : 

" Paris, 5th March 1805. 
" Dear Sir — The enclosed is a paragraph that came 
out yesterday in the Moniteur, and is to-day inserted 
in all the other papers. The arrival of the frigate 
Le President was scarcely announced when this para- 
graph appeared, which I fear has been occasioned by 
something or other that our friend has written by this 



THE B ON A PAR TE-PA TTERSON MARR I A GE. 159 

vessel ; but whatever may have been the cause, you 
must agree with me, that our friend ought no longer 
to think of returning. 

" I expect to return to Holland in the course of 
four or five weeks. The speculation I mentioned to 
you in several of my letters has been laid aside, at 
least for the present, which will afford you an oppor- 
tunity of giving me your ideas respecting it. 

" The bills that are to be drawn by our Minister on 
the Treasury of the United States, are not yet is- 
sued, and I fear I shall not be able to do anything in 
them either, as I shall probably be obliged to return 
to Amsterdam before they are drawn. 

Yours very affectionately, 
Robert Patterson." 

This letter was, on the 11th of March, forwarded for 
America in the ship Robereus, with the annexed en- 
closures : — 

Paris, 15 ventose. 

"Par un acte du 11 ventose, defense est faite a tous officiers 
de l'etat civil de l'Empire, de recevoir sur leurs registres la 
transcription de l'acte de celebration d'un pretendu mariage 
que M. Jer6me Bonaparte auroit contracts en pays etrariger, 
en age de minorite, sans le consentement de sa mere, et sans 
publication prealable dans le lieu de son domicile. 

[Journal officiel.) 

"From and after the 11th of the present month, all the 
civil officers of the Empire, are forbidden to suffer the trans- 
cription on their registers, of the certificate of a pretended 
marriage which Mr. Jerome Bonaparte may have contracted 
in a foreign country, without the consent of his mother, and 
without the banns thereof being previously published in the 
place of his abode. {Moniteur.)" 



160 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Still in Paris, and perhaps indulging in gloomy 
anticipations on account of the unfavorable turn 
things have taken, Mr. Patterson again writes a short 
letter to his father, from which we gather that all his 
hopes of a reconciliation of the Emperor to his sis- 
ter's marriage, have fled for ever, and left behind the 
end of diplomacy upon the subject. He begins : — 

" Paris, March 9th 1805. 

Dear Sir — 

I wrote you via Bordeaux and Nantz on the 
5th inst. enclosing a paragraph which appeared in the 
different newspapers about that time. D — s ehtux 
as ae vrlap xe geve xe M — r. Om fur pe 
liyi de mebxh alvx va e ay s dr o at fr ax 
d I g n. B r c eb x flsf x ulx Y — . p If Ibbr 
fxri I x v o y I a laiur of azp g earn oar 
i v a x'u r x u e y r x u r b r." 

To this letter, in the handwriting of Mr. Robert 
Patterson, he neither affixes his signature nor his ini- 
tials, but closes by the words "I am, &c." On the 
cover is the direction, " William Patterson, Esquire, 
Baltimore. Per the Charleston Packet via Phila- 
delphia.' ' 

Using the key already given, the paragraph in 
cipher reads thus : " Betsy ought by no means to come 
to France. If she were, I think she would be for- 
tunate in only being sent back. Report says that Lu- 
cien was arrested at Milan, and he is now confined in 
the thole there." 

In two days, however, after this alarming intelli- 
gence had been committed to paper, Jerorne and his 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSOX MARRIAGE. 161 

wife were on the deep in spite of all warning ! The 
ship's " gallant prow" was pressing on towards Eu- 
rope, inspiring Jerome with the soul-stirring sen- 
timent, " Land of my birth, I shall greet thee again." 
Betsy, if we may credit the language of the strange 
writer from Lille, had " drawn a prize which most of 
her sex covet," yet its possession was, we imagine, 
already giving her sorrow. She was bidding farewell 
to her native land and to the companions of her 
youth, in a manner that made secrecy necessary in 
order to her safety ; for British cruisers in American 
waters were bent on the capture of her husband. 
She had exchanged the comforts of an affluent home 
in America for the privations of a long period of 
anxiety, pain and sorrow, in a strange land. 

On the morning of the 11th of March 1805, ere 
gray twilight had completely yielded to the light of 
day, or the dragon of night fairly departed, the young 
couple stood on a wharf in Baltimore. The land 
secretly and tearfully gave up its charge, and the 
ship moved off; she passed the fortifications in 
river, and not a ripple was heard ; she passed the 
capes of the Chesapeake, and the sea, sadly smi 
received the precious sail ! 

Perhaps she passed in mid-ocean, within hai 
distance, the ship which bore the letter in cipher \ 
Betsy ! Both, however, were unconscious of its e: 
ence, and they ploughed along on the " highway of na- 
tions" toward their respective destinations. The ship 
bearing the letter reached America, and the good ship 
Erin, bearing the young couple, reached Spain, and 
there for the present we leave them. 



162 THE BQNAPARTE-RATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

As previously stated, the young couple sailed on 
the 11th of March ; and as quietly as the circum- 
stances of the embarkation and sailing were con- 
ducted, General Tuerreau, the French Minister in 
Washington, in spite of bad roads and rickety stage- 
coaches, had the news on the 13th. He writes to Mr. 
Patterson in Baltimore, and we copy his original in 
full :— 

"Washington City, March 13th 1805. 

" Sir — About four or five days ago, I did myself 
the honor to write to M. Jerome Bonaparte, entreat- 
ing the favor of him to offer you my sincere thanks 
for the wine you gave Mr. Carriere to be sent to me. 
I understand that M. Bonaparte left Baltimore on 
Sunday last ; and being uncertain of his having 
received my letter before his departure, I, with 
pleasure, tender you my acknowledgments for the 
said wine. 

" I avail myself of this opportunity to inquire of 
you, sir, whether M. Jerome Bonaparte had left his 
four carriage horses with you, and whether he begged 
you to dispose of them. I should in this case be will- 
ing to purchase them of you, sir ; and take it as a 
favor would you be so kind as to acquaint me with 
your intentions. 

" I have the honor to be, sir, with regard, 
" Your most obedient servant, 

" Tuerreau, 

" French Minister. 

"Mr. Patterson.' 

This letter was written in English, and signed by 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 163 

the Minister with his own hand. We have given a 
verbatim copy. 

On Sunday the 17th of March 1804, Mr. Patterson 
writes his reply to the above, and we give below a 
copy of his letter, word for word : — 

" Baltimore, 17th March 1805. 

" Sir — I had the pleasure of receiving the letter 
you were pleased to address me of the 13th current, 
and was happy that the two cases claret delivered Mr. 
Carriere for your use have met your approbation. I 
would not have taken the liberty of offering them in 
the manner I did to Mr. Carriere had he been able to 
procure the kind he wanted by purchase ; but knowing 
there was none of that quality for sale, induced me to 
spare you a part of what I had imported for my own 
use : and having still more than a sufficient supply for 
my own purposes, should you, on trial, like the quality 
of the wine, I shall be happy to furnish you with two 
cases more. * 

"Mr. Bonaparte left instructions with me not to 
dispose of his horses until I heard from him after his 
arrival in Europe. Of course it is out of my power 
at present to make you an offer of them on any terms ; 
otherwise, it would have afforded me much pleasure to 
have given them to you in preference to other appli- 
cants, and more especially as the horses are very fine 
and valuable. 

" Mr. Bonaparte got under w T ay from our harbor at 
8 o'clock in the morning of Monday last, and went to 
sea the 7 next morning at 9 o'clock, with a remarkably 
fine wind which lasted for three days ; so that I hope 



164 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

and pray he will reach his port of destination in 
safety. I am concerned however to find that a British 
sloop of war sailed from the harbor of New York last 
Sunday morning, said to be bound for Bermuda ; but 
I have little doubts her real intentions were to inter- 
cept the vessel in which Mr. Bonaparte was embarked. 
It was not unknown to Mr. Bonaparte and the master 
of the vessel, that such a British vessel lay at New 
New York, and the probability of her coming out to 
try to intercept them. They were therefore on their 
guard ; and as the vessel in which they embarked was 
only in a set of ballast, and reputed one of the fastest 
sailers belonging to our port, there is little or no 
danger of his going clear. 

" I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, 
" Your most humble servant, 

" William Patterson. 
" His Excellency General Tuerreau, Washington." 
On Jerome's second day at sea, General Rewbell of 
Paris writes hrm a letter which he never received. It 
also may have passed him in mid-ocean, and reached 
America about the time he landed in Spain. We 
allow the general to speak for himself in his own 
language: 

" Paris, le 24 Ventose, an 13. 
" Monsieur : J'ai eu l'honneur de vous ecrire, et de vous 
tenioigner combien j'avais 6te afflige en apprenant par Meyronet 
tous les details de votre naufrage; une lettre que je viens de 
recevoir do Mr. Pascault en me les confirmant, m'apprend en 
outre que vous etes malade. Personne, Monsieur, ne s'interesse 
plus vivement a vous que moi, et cette derniere nouvelle me 
causa un chagrin reel. Je passerai ce matin chez M. Patter- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 165 

son pour le prier de vous faire parvenir cette letfre. J'espere 
qu'il aura des choses plus consolantes a me dire sur l'etat de 
votre sante. 

" Meyronet est parti 5 je desire qu'il ait 6te vous rejoindre ; 
c'est un homine sur lequel vous pouvez compter, et qui vous 
est tout devoue. 

k ' S. M. rimperatrice a fait obtenir a Monsieur de Mauper- 
tuis le consulat de Rotterdam ; Ton assure que cette place 
vaut dans ce moment passe cent mille francs. Je me plais a 
croire que M. de Maupertuis vous est aussi attache que Mey- 
ronet. Je voudrais vous parler avec la confiance que je vous 
dois, et qu ? on ne peut s'erupecher d'avoir pour un coeur comme 
le votre ; mais cela devient impossible dans les circonstances 
actuelles. 

"Puisse-je avoir l'honneur de vous faire bientot ma cour ! 
Yous n'Stes pas fait pour vieillir en Amerique. Malgre tout 
ce qui se passe Mde. R. espere avoir Ta-vantage de voir Ma- 
dame J. B. dans ce pays-ci. Je me joins a celle en pensees et 
en desirs. Veuillez nous rappeller a son souvenir, et croire, 
Monsieur, que je ne cesserai en aucunes occasions de ma vie 
de vous §tes attache avec la plus tendre et la plus res.pectueuse 
reconnaissance. 

" Votre tout devoue serviteur, 

"Retvbell." 

TRANSLATION. 

" Paris, March l*4th 1805. 
" Sir : I have had the honor to write to you and to 
testify how much I have been afflicted on learning 
from Meyronet all the particulars of your shipwreck. 
I have just received a letter from M. Pascault con- 
firming these reports, and informing me also that you 
have been sick. No one, sir, takes more interest in 
your welfare than I, and this last news has caused 
me a great deal of real sorrow. I will go this morn- 



166 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

ing to Mr. Patterson to request him to send you this 
letter. I hope he will have something more satisfac- 
tory to tell me concerning the state of your health. 

" Meyronet is gone. I wish he would rejoin you. 
He is a man on whom you can depend, and he is 
entirely devoted to you. 

" Her Majesty the Empress has obtained the con- 
sulship of Rotterdam for M. de Maupertuis. People 
say this situation is now worth more than a hundred 
thousand francs a year. 

" I am happy in believing that M. de Maupertuis is 
as much devoted to you as Meyronet. I would like to 
speak to you with the confidence which I owe you, and 
which it is impossible not to have for a heart like yours ; 
but this becomes impossible in the present circum- 
stances. I hope I shall soon have the honor to pay you 
my homage. You are not made to grow old in America. 
In spite of what is taking place, Mrs. Rewbell hopes 
to have the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Bonaparte in this 
country. I join with her in thoughts and desires. 
Be kind enough to remember us, and believe, sir, I 
will never cease on any occasion of my life to be de- 
voted to you with the most tender and the most 
respectful gratefulness. Your all-devoted servant, 

Rewbell/' 

We close this chapter by giving two extracts from 
letters written to Mr. Patterson in Baltimore by 
Jonathan Jones of Bordeaux. Under date of 24th 
February 1805 he writes: "I have lately forwarded 
you several letters via New York, without the least 
observation made thereon, though particularly recom- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 167 

mended by me to the captain's care, and as I had 
some responsibility therein, beg you to be so obliging 
as to advise me in course if such letters get safe to 
hand. They went by the brig Georgia {unfortunately 
lost) that sailed the 24th of January from Bordeaux, 
and was driven ashore at the entrance of the river. 
The captain had two bags of letters, one of which was 
saved that I had sealed up, and the bag was sent on 
by the brig New York. You had better send your 
orders to some confidential friend at New York to 
detain yours, for many of the letters were opened on 
account of their being wet with sea-water." 

On the 17th of March he writes again : " Here 
enclosed you will please receive two letters that came 
to hand two days since with a desire to send both by 
some occasion, as well as the Gazette herewith, 
that gives me infinite pain from the warm friendship 
I take in all that interests you." 

The Bordeaux Gazette, to which this last para- 
graph refers, contained the article of the " 13th 
Ventose," relating to "the pretended marriage" of 
Jerome, which " he may have contracted in a foreign 
country." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Young couple on the sea ! — Robert Patterson in Paris — Gen- 
ral Rcwbell— The Erin safe— Sad news in cipher— Storms of 
wit — Deception " all the go" — Nineteen days at sea— Blue 
hills of Portugal — Letter from Bonaparte — " Sea-sick never 
kills nobody' ' — Foreign gossip — Letters in cipher — The cipher 
changed — Gossip in Boston — The " Columbian Centinel" 
irate — The Bonapartes lampooned — Letters of Dacres pub 
lished — Philadelphia and the Moniteur — Bentalou and Skip 
with — Mr. Livingston's treaty — li Bills" — Another letter from 
Lille — Affairs in Holland — Mr. Schimmelpenninck — Madame 
Bonaparte not allowed to land in Holland — Sylvanus Bourne 
pleads her cause — She is placed under guns — Mr. Bourne's 
letter — Gossip in London — Madame Bonaparte goes there — 
Jerome and Le Camus at Genoa. 

No news has yet arrived from the young couple on 
the sea. Another letter from the bride's brother has 
probably passed them on its voyage to America. Mr. 
Patterson still in Paris, writes a letter, mostly of a 
business character, to his father, and we copy from it 
the following paragraphs. 

Dating Paris, March 17, 1805, he says, 

"Dear Sir: — My last was of the 9th inst., and I 
am still without any of your letters. 

" It is my intention to set out in the course of two 
or three days for Nantz and Bordeaux, from there to 
Marseilles, then to Lyons, and return to Holland, 
without passing this place again. I shall probably be 
in Amsterdam in the course of six weeks, perhaps 
sooner. When Bentalou gets his bills, he will transmit 

(168) 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 169 

them to me to be forwarded to you, on his doing which 
I will return him his obligation ; and will let him have 
something more on account of them. 

" Mr. Skipw T ith has some idea of going himself to 
the United States with his bills ; but if he does not, 
which is by far the most probable, he will send them 
to you for collection. I mentioned to you his having 
expressed a wish to have his commissions, in the event 
of his sending his bills to you, paid to him here at the 
rate of 108 sous per dollar, which is par, twelve 
months after he hands me the bills. As it will be the 
means of your getting your money home without the loss 
that has latterly attended the drawing in Europe, it 
would certainly be an advantageous arrangement for 
us ; and if he thinks seriously of the plan, I shall 
have no hesitation in entering into it on the terms I 
have stated, with this proviso, that the money is only 
to be paid after we know of the bills being paid in the 
United States. His commissions amount to about 
$80,000. 

" The enclosed letter is from General Rewbell. I 
do not see the least reason to change the opinion 
given you before, that the only chance left to Jerome 
to bring his affair to a fortunate issue, is by his 
remaining in the United States. If he were to come 
out I suspect he would be very far from finding a cor- 
dial reception. I shall write you more particularly 
and fully from Bordeaux.' ' 

The reader will discover^ that General Rewbell's 
letter came as an enclosure in Mr. Patterson's letter 
11 



170 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

just quoted, but it was published in the last chapter, 
in the order of time. 

Fearing that ladies may grow tired of the historical 
and commercial part of the correspondence, we will 
lay before them something perhaps more suited to 
their tastes. From Mr. Patterson, now in Bordeaux, 
we have another cipher letter, intended as a warning 
to the young couple, now far out on the trackless 
ocean, in sight of nothing save billow and sky. This 
letter, on its way to Baltimore, will pass them nearer 
the rock-bound coasts of Europe than mid-ocean, but 
will remain the custodian of its dreadful secrets ; and 
the unconscious vessels will plough on as the thought- 
less messengers of grief. 

The young couple are safe on the bosom of ocean. 
The noble Erin has gallantly carried her unusual 
freight, and auspicious winds will soon bring her in 
sight of land. 

But to return to Mr. Patterson's letter. Dating 
" Bordeaux, 31st March 1805," he writes to his father 
under the impression that Jerome and his wife are 
still in Baltimore : — 

" Dear sir," writes he in original and duplicate, " I 
had the pleasure of writing you on the 17th inst. from 
Paris, enclosing you a letter from General Rewbell for 
Jerome, which was forwarded from here by a schooner 
bound to Baltimore. 

" I had thought for a long time that the Emperor's 
being dissatisfied with Jerome's marriage proceeded 
merely from the pique of the moment, which I hoped 
he would soon have got over ; but from what General 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 171 

Armstrong has been able to learn, and by what I have 
heard from other quarters, it seems that this uncon- 
ciliatory disposition of the Emperor is kept alive and 
meuvraxrihj the oaxbathrfofa, c lb x 
of the m I v o y s . The- R — ff and the c b o a g - 
rffrf. Y — , and R y o f.l are not m I j e b - 
I d y s iofcefri xeplbifQ — . His 
dbexurbf, with the exception of Y — a , take 
probably but little v a x r b rf x in his d r ul y m. 
The mother, I believe, is really desirous of appeasing 
the Emperor and to recognise the marriage. I am 
afraid however that her good dispositions will be of no 
avail, as she is not supposed to have much influence 
over him. M — , you know, has a handsome appoint- 
ment, and the Empress, who is his relation, has made 
him several presents as testimonies of her regard. He 
shows all Jerome's letters to the Empress, and one or 
two of them he mentions as having sent to the Empe- 
ror. He is not considered a man that can be de- 
pended upon, but one who will adhere to his friend 
whilst it is convenient. Though we cannot confide in 
him, it is unnecessary to discover our mistrust of him. 
" If Jerome were to arrive he would undoubtedly 
begeamoari, and till he should g e r c y s with 
whatever the R — might direct ; and if his wife should 
come out, and I must repeat, I should consider her 
fortunate in e ay s being fr ax d I g n to the United 
States. He may possibly, on showing a reluctance to 
return, be demanded of the American government as 
an officer in the Navy, which demand could scarcely 
be complied with if he chooses to throw up his com- 
mission. There is not much to be apprehended on 



172 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

the score of fhc c y o rf. Their choir is a suffi- 
cient guarantee against any inconvenience of that na- 
ture. They have been informed of the consequences 
that might attend d o y yf br xhb a o at obex rf 
x r i. It might be a disadvantage for your alv r to 
Ice rib ea las of them. The reports of the Iff I 
ff o a I x o e a or g e amv ar v r a x of Y — A are 
not confirmed, and are most probably unfounded. 
The bare circumstance, however, of their being consid- 
ered possible shows a ylvraxldyr ircbljoxs 
of v e b lyf." 

To this letter Mr. Patterson adds his initials only. 
The paragraphs in cipher read thus — " This uncorr- 
ciliatory disposition is kept alive and fomented by the 
intrigues of a part of the family. The Empress, and 
the princesses ; Lucien and Llisa, are not favorably 
disposed towards Jerome. His brothers, with the ex- 
ception of Lucien, take probably but little interest in 
his behalf." 

" If Jerome were to arrive, he would undoubtedly 
be confined, and till he should comply with whatever 
the Emperor might direct ; and if his wife should come 
out, I must repeat, I should consider her fortunate 
in only being sent bach to the United States." 

" They have been informed of the consequences that 
might attend bills returning protested. It might be a 
disadvantage for your name to appear on any of them. 
The reports of the assassination or confinement of Lu- 
cien are not confirmed. The bare circumstance how- 
ever of their being considered possible shows a lament- 
able depravity of morals." 

" M — ," appearing in the preceding letter, refers to 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 173 

Maupertuis the French Consul at Rotterdam ; and it 
is somewhat singular that Mr. Patterson always dis- 
guises his name in the correspondence. He finds that 
Maupertuis is " not considered a man that can be de- 
pended upon," and perhaps the 3000 francs loaned 
him as part of his out-fit for Rotterdam, have gone 
where the " woodbine twineth. ,, In this letter, as 
given above, the full face of deception is unmasked, 
even that of Lucien also, who in the beginning of 
diplomacy upon this subject was described as " a firm 
and decided character. On all occasions, he thinks 
and acts independently. On this one he nobly and 
candidly uttered what he thought." Did he? 

Down to this time, Ma.rch 31st, the reader will 
remember that the young couple have been nineteen 
days on the sea, and no accounts of their voyage ap- 
pear. By this time they should be in sight of the 
calm blue hills on the shore of Portugal. They may 
have partaken of " fresh provisions" at St. Croix de 
Teneriffe, if the good ship Erin has been favored. If 
she has, or even has not been favored, what a fame 
will she earn for herself ! It will eclipse that of the 
fairest of the argosies that swarmed the ancient ocean, 
or flitted before the imagination of the wildest poet. 
She will be classed among the real heroines of the 
white-bannered battalions of the sea, and the canvas 
will record her precious memory. 

Before the appearance on the path of gossip, that 
unlicensed peddler of paragraphs, we will favor the 
lady, into whose hands this book may come, with the 
reading of the first letter from the young couple, 
written by Jerome's own hand, and in his own Eng- 



174 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MAERIA GE. 

lish. It was directed to " Mr. William Patterson, 
Baltimore/' in the handwriting of the young Madame 
Bonaparte herself, and we give below a verbatim 
copy. 

" On Board of the Erin, 

the 2d April 1805. 

" I have the pleasure of writing to you, dear father, 
from the arbous of Lisbon where we arrive this morn- 
ing the 21st (Jay of our departure from Cape Henry. 
We shall be obliged to perform a quarantine of 16 
days, but I have already found the way for not doing 
it, and in three days I shall be ready to proceed on 
my Long, monotonne, and fatiguing journey. My 
feelings for you, my second mother, and all your good 
family are v-ery well known to you, and it is easier 
for me to feel them than to express them. I have 
left one of my family and will be soon among the 
other, But the pleasure and the satisfaction of being 
in my first will never make me forgot my second. 

" My dear wife has fortunately supported the 
fatigues of our voyage perfectly well. She has been 
very sick, but you know as well as any body that sea- 
sick never has killed no body. 

"I pray you, dear father, to do not forget me near 
my friends, and particularly General and Mrs. Smith 
and family, Nancy, Dallas, and Dr. McIIenry, and 
remember that you solemnly promised me to never 
show my letters, and to burn them after having read 
it. B." 

This letter is signed B. only ; and in the hand- 
writing of Mr. Patterson, father of Madame Bona- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 175 

parte, it is endorsed, "Bonaparte, Lisbon, April 1805 
— received loth May." 

From Jerome's letter, it will be seen that the ship, 
with himself and wife, arrived at Lisbon, the capital 
city of Portugal, on the 2d of April 1805. On the 
14th, the Lisbon papers had it that " Jerome Bona- 
parte, after having been five days under quarantine, 
landed and received visits from the Spanish ambassa- 
dor, and others of the corps diplomatique in friendship 
with France." 

On the 2d of May, it was published at Greenock 
that " a Lisbon mail arrived on Thursday per the 
Walsingham packet. Jerome Bonaparte had set out 
for France, and his lady and her brother by sea for 
Amsterdam." This was William Patterson, Jun. 
Jerome set out for the city of Artesian wells, and the 
lair of the lion which he must soon encounter ; but 
his wife, delicate, fatigued, and dishonored, bids a 
final farewell to her husband at Lisbon, and that hour 
of parting becomes also the hour of a final forsaking, 
and she must finish her journeyings on earth alone. 

Still in Bordeaux, Mr. Robert Patterson, seriously 
operated upon by fear from some quarter, writes the 
following letter to his father, even disguising in cipher 
the initials of his name ; and then changing the cipher 
itself ! We copy the letter in full : — 

" Bordeaux, 11th April 1805. 

" Dear Sir — The following is an extract of a letter 

I received from B u by yesterday's post : 'I 

have been told, and assured that the information may 
be relied on as coming from a correct source, that x ur 



176 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

vexurlulffloi xulx If fur brgro- 
j r i I yrxxrl mb e v Q — r xr y o at urb 
xulxmoaroatuof vlbboltr f e vhgu 
ioflccbejri urplfpoyyoat xe ul j r 
vx ioffeyjri fur y e af r ax r i xe xur 
y I x r chdyoglxoea.' 

" I do not know how lie gets his information, but as 
he sometimes gives credit to reports without consid- 
ering them sufficiently, I think it highly probable that 
what he states will prove unfounded. B. C. 

" N. B. I will write you in the following cipher 
when there is anything material to communicate : — 

abcdefghij klmnopqrs t uvwxyz 
g k n p s u a d r v z b w hymxcj I o i t f q I" 

B u, in the above letter, stands for Bentalou; 

and the extract from his letter, using the former Key, 
reads thus: "I have been told and assured the 
information may be relied on as coming from a correct 
source that the mother has said that, as she received a 
letter from Jerome telling her that, finding his mar- 
riage so much disapproved, he was willing to have it 
dissolved, she consented to the late publication." 

On reference to the first Key to cipher, in a former 
part of this book, the reader will discover that the 
initials B. C, appended to the above letter, represent 
R. P., or Robert Patterson. 

This is the last letter Mr. Patterson writes from 
Bordeaux. Soon after the writing, he appears to 
have departed for Paris without hearing of the arrival 
of the young couple, and William Patterson Junior, 
his brother, in Portugal. For the present we leave 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 177 

Jerome on the overland route from Lisbon to Paris, 
which he probably took, and Mr. Patterson and his 
sister in the Erin, Captain Stephenson, on their voy- 
age to Amsterdam ; and we will hear no more of them 
until they arrive at their respective destinations. 

The paragraph from Mr. Bentalou's letter addressed 
to Mr. Robert Patterson, and by him transmitted in 
cipher to his father in Baltimore, fully unmasks the 
mother of Jerome also, and the demon of deception, 
fully denuded, stands forth as the ruling genius of the 
Bonaparte family. 

Leaving affairs ih Europe to the control of circum- 
stances, the kind reader will please return with us to 
America, and we will land in Boston, where we breathe 
a pure atmosphere among real people. 

The editor of the " Columbian Centinel," published 
in that city, becoming irate upon the subject, handles 
the Bonapartes in the following careless manner. 
Referring to the letter of M. Dacres to Jerome, he 
says in his issue of the 3d of April 1805 : — 

" The real character of man may perhaps be more 
justly appreciated by his private sentiments and 
actions than by his public ; in the former, he is less 
prepared and more off his guard ; he has fewer mo- 
tives for disguising or checking the emotions of his 
heart ; his nature, if we may be allowed the expres- 
sion, is more undressed than in public, where the con- 
viction that all eyes are fixed upon him, that every 
feature, and look, and gesture is weighed and watched, 
gives to his manners a constrained and studied air, 
and makes him more the child of art than of nature. 



178 TEE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

" This letter affords more insight into the character 
of Bonaparte than we could gain from his public 
actions ; it contains the expression of his undisguised 
sentiments and feelings in private and in confidence. 
What a cold unfeeling heart ! How severe, unbending, 
and unforgiving ! occupied solely by ambition and the 
love of power, valuing only the ties of family and 
blood, as they contribute to the gratification of his 
master passion, and the accomplishment of his ambi- 
tions desires ! ' Whatever is foreign to the accomplish- 
ment of his great designs, seems to him treason against 
Ms high destiny/ says M. Dacres, and tells his Brother 
that he knows him better than he does. 4 1 will re- 
ceive Jerome, if, leaving in America the young person 
in question (his innocent and virtuous wife), he shall 
come hither to associate himself to my fortune.' 
4 Consider,' says the Minister to M. Jerome, 'that 
you have as yet done nothing for Mm.' Of natural 
affection, the Minister candidly confesses that he is 
utterly devoid. i In vain, availing myself of the 
freedom which the First Consul permits in domestic 
privacy, did I wish to make the voice of natural 
affection be heard. I became sensible from his con- 
versation, that he neither felt, nor was liable to feel, 
any pliancy of that kind.' A stranger, unacquainted 
with the character of Bonaparte, might be led to sus- 
pect, upon hearing his repugnance to the marriage 
entered into by his brother, that that brother had 
married a lady of low origin, and that she formed a 
distressing contrast to other marriages that had been 
entered into by the family — a contrast indeed ! the 
contrast which virtue affords to vice ! Is it possible 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSOX MARRIAGE. 179 

that Bonaparte could have been blinded to this truth, 
that every rebuke he uttered against his brother was 
ten times more applicable to himself? to himself who 
evinced the most disgusting indelicacy and immorality 
in the union he had formed, a union in which every 
feeling most congenial to the heart was violated, and 
which was entered into for the sole purpose of grati- 
fying his thirst of ambition and dominion. And 
Joseph Bonaparte ! was his wife of superior rank and 
virtue to the wife of Jerome ? Lucien appears to be 
under the same ban and anathema as Jerome! He 
has been banished from France because he has con- 
tracted connections ' which have been found incom- 
patible with his abode in France.' But of Lucien, 
the Emperor, if we may form a judgment from the 
letter of the Minister of Marine, stands in some awe. 
He certainly is indebted in a great degree to him for 
his present pre-eminence and power. This high sense 
of family pride which must not be sullied by contact 
and commixture with plebeian blood, would scarcely 
been pardonable in the real descendants of Charle- 
magne. But in a little low Corsican, born we know 
not of whom, and whose name and family were never 
heard of until within these ten years, it is perfectly 
contemptible and ridiculous. To demonstrate to our 
readers the folly of the objections which the Emperor 
Buonaparte has made to the alliance formed by his 
brother Jerome, in America, we present the following 
authentic sketch of the genealogy of the Buonaparte 
family, which we deem it our duty to blazon and set 
forth for the entertainment and information of our 
readers — 



180 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Mrs. Ranioglini, of Basle, 
married M. Ranioglini ; and, secondly, 
M. Fesch. She had by these marriages 
Letitia Ranioglini, 
and M. Fesch, now Cardinal Fesch. 
Letitia Ranioglini married Carlo Bonaparte, 
a Recorder of a petty 
Tribunal of Ajaccio. 
Letitia Bonaparte was afterwards mistress of Count 
Marbgeuf, Governor of Corsica. 

Her children by Carlo Bonaparte and Count 
Marbceuf are — His Imperial Highness, 

Joseph Bonaparte, who married 
Her Imperial Highness, M. M. Clary, daughter of a 
ship-broker at Marseilles. 

His Imperial Majesty, 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 

who married Madame de Beauharnais, first the wife 

of Count Beauharnais, and afterwards the mistress 

of Barras. 

Citizen Lucien Bonaparte. 
He was first an Abbe/ In 1793 he was employed 
in the wagon service of the Army of Provence, at 
£100 a year. His first wife was a chambermaid in 
the tavern of one Maximin, near Toulon. She died 
at Neuilly in 1797, from bad treatment. 

His second wife is Madame Jauberthou, the di- 
vorced wife of an exchange broker, 
of Paris. 
She was his mistress for a year, and then he mar- 
ried her. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 181 

His Royal Highness, 
Louis Bonaparte, 
Married Mademoiselle Beauharnais, daughter of 
Her Imperial Majesty by her first husband. 

CITIZEN JEROME BONAPARTE 
Married MISS PATTERSON, a very respectable 
and beautiful young lady of Baltimore. 
Her Imperial Highness, 
Princess Elisa, 
the sister of his Imperial Majesty, married at Mar- 
seilles, Bacciochi, son of a waiter at a coiFee-house, 
and marker at a billiard-table at Aix-la-Cliapelle and 
Spa, in 1793 ; the son carried on a small trade in 
Cotton in Switzerland. 

Her Imperial Highness, 
Princess Matilda Bonaparte, married Gene- 
ral Murat, son of an ostler at an Inn, three miles 
from Qabors, in Quercy. Murat, in 1793, proposed 
to change his name to Marat. 

Her Imperial Highness 
Princess Paulina BoRGHESE,\narried first Gene- 
ral Leclerc, who was the son of a wool dealer, at 
Pontoise. He purchased wool from the country peo- 
ple, and resold it at Paris, to the upholsterers. His 
mother, Madame Leclerc, was a retail dealer in corn 
and flour. Her brother had been sentenced to be 
hanged for robbery. " 

It was not until early in the spring of 1805 the 
letters of M. Dacres found their way into the news- 
papers of the United States. At this time they were 



182 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

generally published by the few journals then existing 
in the country ; but we find that the " National Intel- 
ligencer" in Washington, as early as February 11th, 
publishes the letter to Pichon, and for itrthat paper 
credits the London Morning Chronicle, but does not 
give the date of the issue. We do not find that the 
Baltimore papers published these letters at any time, 
but remained comparatively silent upon the whole 
subject. 

On the 3d of May it was published in Philadelphia 
that " the report of a decree annulling the marriage 
of Jerome Bonaparte has been also deemed a fiction 
in this country. We, however, find in the Moniteur 
of the 1st of March the official document to that 
effect. It differs from that we have already published 
in the concluding words which are, without the con- 
sent of his mother, and without the banns thereof being 
published in the place of his abode." 

On the 20th of April we find Mr. Robert Patterson 
again in Paris. He addresses a business letter in 
triplicate to Messrs.. William Patterson & Sons, Bal- 
timore, and says he wrote them a letter from Bor- 
deaux the 2d of April, " stating the particulars of the 
arrangement I had entered into with Mr. Skipwith 
respecting the bills he is to receive." This letter does 
not appear in hand, and he goes on to say, " On my 
arrival here the day before yesterday I was very 
much astonished at Mr. Bentalou telling me that 
Skipwith had expressed some regret at the contract 
he had made, and that he feared very much he wished 
to be off. I immediately called on him, determined 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON 31ARRTAGE. 183 

to have such explanations as would prevent any 
future misunderstandings ; but finding very soon from 
the tenor of his conversation, and from the shuffling 
disposition he discovered, that it would be difficult if 
not impossible to compel him to adhere to his agree- 
ment ; and considering also the danger of having any- 
thing to do with a person on w T hose word we find not 
the smallest reliance can be placed, I consented to 
acquit him of his engagement and to annul the con- 
tract. Bentalou is very much mortified at Skipwith's 
trifling conduct. He suggested the arrangement, and 
from motives of friendship towards him forw T arded the 
negotiation. The disappointment is the more aggra- 
vating, as I have reason to suspect I was undermined 
in the business by a person from whom a very differ- 
ent conduct ought to have been expected. I allude 
to Js. Per s." 

After writing at length on the subject of commer- 
cial affairs in such a manner as to make very dry 
reading for the present generation of merchants, Mr. 
Patterson concludes : " Mr. Bentalou requests you 
will send him a pipe of Madeira wine of first quality. 
It can be sent either to Nantz or Bordeaux. He 
wishes it to be cased." This looks very much liko 
"sending coals to New Castle." 

Without any previous notice of his departure from 
Paris, we find Mr. Patterson in Amsterdam on the 
10th of May. 

Dating " Amsterdam, May 10th 1805," he writes 
to his father : " Enclosed you will find a bill on the 
Treasury of the United States, drawn by General 



184 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Armstrong in favor of Paul Bentalou, and endorsed 
to you, for 170,378 francs 58 centimes. The letter 
of advice which you have also enclosed and the bill 
are dated on the 6th inst. You will please to recol- 
lect- 1 have purchased $20,000 of this bill from Mr. 
B. ? for which I am to pay Aim at the rate others are 
sold of the same description. The balance you will 
hold subject to his orders. You know I have already 
given Mr. B. $4000 as part of the purchase-money 
for the $20,000. I shall remit him $10,000 or 
$12,000 more in the course of a day or two, and the 
balance ■ when we have a precedent to establish the 
discount I am to be allowed. Mr. Bentalou informs 
me the bills are to be paid at the Treasury at the 
rate of one dollar per five francs and three thousand 
three hundred and thirty-three ten-thousandths of a 
franc. 

u The following is an extract of Bentalou's letter, 
dated the 7th of May : c As the Ministers have agreed 
to serve first all the claimants present, it follows that 
we will, I fear, have to wait some time longer before 
those represented by powers of attorney are granted, 
and have gone through not only the examination of 
these powers ; but perhaps more difficulties arising in 
their progress between the Ministers will have to 
undergo long discussions. It appears they have agreed 
that the bills are to be issued in the name and for the 
sole benefit of the original claimant, therefore not 
negotiable ; and hence the necessity of the agents, in 
order to secure their due, to send these bills to a third 
person ; and I have the pleasure to add that Mr. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 185 

Skipwith has already informed me that since he is 
not allowed to deduct here his commissions from each 
claim that he represents, he means to comply with his 
former engagements agreed upon with you, and of 
course will send all his bills to your house. If this 
turns out to be the case, as I really believe it will, 
we must discard our suspicion of any collusion with 
our New England friend. 

" When I have anything from Skipwith respecting 
a renewal of our engagement, you shall be informed. 
It will then be sufficient time for you to make your 
arrangements. 

" The person sent to the Texel writes that public 
notice was given there in handbills that any person 
having communication with the ship Erin, Captain 
Stephenson, would incur a severe penalty. He men- 
tions also that he has reason to believe that the ship 
arrived in the Texel roads last Wednesday, but was 
ordered off immediately ; and he adds that there is a 
report of her being in the Vlieland, a place about 
thirty miles to the northward of the Texel. He sent 
a letter of mine for William to that place. They will 
no doubt proceed to Einbden." 

To this letter Mr. Patterson signs his name in full, 
as he invariably did when without the boundaries of 
France. As so much has been written by Mr. Pat- 
terson on the subject of " bills to be drawn by our 
Minister," we give below a letter from General Arm- 
strong transmitting a "bill," and also a copy of one 
of the bills in question : — 
12 



186 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

" Paris, May 6, 1805. 

" Sir — I have this day drawn on you in favor of 
Paul Bentalou, in pursuance of a liquidation by the 
government of France, in this case provided by the 
Convention between the United States and France of 
the 30th April 1803, the 10th of Floreal, year 11, for 
one hundred and seventy thousand three hundred and 
seventy-eight francs fifty-eight centimes. 

" John Armstrong, 

" Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States. 
"To the Treasurer of the United States, Washington. " 

We cannot give a copy of the bill which was drawn 
as above, but we have one similar. 

" No. 559. 

" Exchange for 3321 francs and four centimes at 5 
francs fpp per dollar, Paris Aug. 16, 1805. Pay 
ninety days after sight this my first of exchange, 
2d and 3d of same tenor and date unpaid, to the 
order of George Ellis, surviving partner of the house of 
Geo. Short & Thos. Ellis, in pursuance of a liquida- 
tion by the government of France, in this case provided 
by the convention between the United States and 
France of the 30th April 1803— the 10th of Floreal, 
year 11, three thousand three hundred and twenty- 
one francs and four centimes. Per advice from the 
undersigned Minister Plenipotentiary of the United 
States. John Armstrong. 

" To the Treasurer of the United States, Washington." 

The treaty of 30th April 1803 was concluded by 
Mr. Livingston for the purchase of Louisiana. 



TEE B ONAPAR TE- PA TTERS ON MARR I A GE. 187 

If ladies will pardon diis digression from the sub- 
ject of the marriage into the channels of business, in 
which gentlemen only may take an interest, we will 
place before them a short letter from Mr. Kobert 
Patterson, written from Amsterdam to his father, 
announcing the arrival of Madame Bonaparte's vessel 
at the Texel. The Texel is a small island in the 
North Sea opposite the inland waters of Holland 
upon which the city of Amsterdam is situated. Its 
location will be seen on reference to a map of Europe. 

Dating Amsterdam, May 11th 1805, Mr. Patterson 
says : — " I learn from the Texel the arrival of the 
Erin. The pilot who brought her in is put in the 
guard-ship, and will in all probability be punished. 
The person who is at the Texel had not at the time he 
wrote succeeded in putting my letter on board, but 
expected to be able to do it. From the circumstance 
of their prohibiting the pilots from bringing in the 
vessel, I am in hopes their object is merely to prevent 
their landing, and that they will be permitted to 
depart again. Yours affectionately." 

To this letter Mr. Patterson does not sign his name ; 
but addresses it to Messrs. Wm, Patterson & Sons, 
Baltimore. 

Whilst we are waiting for more news from the 
Texel, we will open another letter that comes from a 
different direction and goes in a different one, quite 
contrary to the location of the person to whom it is 
addressed ; but the writer has already been admitted 
into our circle of correspondents, and we will give 
him a hearing in order. Before we open the letter, 



188 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

let us take particular notice of the directions on its 
envelope. Just look ! It is headed by large red let- 
ters in print. 

Ship Lille. 
Then comes the writing — 

" A Madame. 
Madame Jerome Bonaparte. 

Baltimore, 

Maryland. 
In Amerique." 

We will now break the great seal of wax, and read — 

"Lille, May 29th 1805. 
" Madame— 

" It was with the most lively solicitude that I 
read in the Official Journal that Mr. & Mrs. Jerome 
Bonaparte had arrived at Lisbon. The joy however 
which I felt on this occasion was not, I find, to be of 
any long duration ; but on the contrary was to be 
succeeded by some news as unpalatable and mortifying 
as my intelligence had been pleasing. You may sup- 
pose, Madame, I allude, and if you do, you will con- 
jecture rightly, that I allude to the subsequent rumor, 
that you and Mr. Patterson were again departed for 
America. How to account for this circumstance, I 
am utterly at a loss ! If it is true, I trust whatever 
may be the event, it will still be such as to establish 
your reputation, and the honor of your family, on as 
solid a basis as they have both heretofore rested ; and 
that the connection which you have so happily and 
honorably formed will at length be sanctioned in its 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 189 

due extent. If this should be the case, no one will 
rejoice more sincerely at this event than myself. If 
it should unfortunately be otherwise, which I cannot 
bring myself to believe, it becomes our duty, however 
painful the practice of this duty may be, to submit' 
with resignation to the will of Providence, which you, 
from your own conscious rectitude of conduct and 
purity of intention, will be enabled to do, so far as to 
insure to yourself that tranquillity and peace of mind 
which virtue always gives, and which neither gold nor 
honors can purchase. 

" In this case, should any chance hereafter bring 
you to this part of the world, I shall feel it my indis- 
pensable duty to seize the earliest opportunity of pay- 
ing my respects to you ; and to assure you personally, 
as I now do by letter, of my readiness to render you 
every service in my power. 

" Permit me, Madame, to subscribe myself, with 
most respectful regards, 

" Your most obedient and most devoted servant, 

George Matthew Paterson. 

Rue Equimoise, No. 921. 

" P. S. I have already had the honor by letter of 
the 6th of August 1804, to make myself known to you. 

To Madame Jerome Bonaparte." 

If the reader will turn back to Mr. Geo. M. Pater- 
son's letter of the 6th August 1804, the two together 
will make up an interesting and an amusing docu- 
ment. 

Next we have the following paragraph from the 



190 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

New York papers, but without date. " Paris papers 
to the 20th of May brought from Amsterdam by the 
ship Mississippi, we are verbally informed, state that 
Madame Bonaparte had arrived at Amsterdam from 
Lisbon some days previous to the sailing of the Mis- 
sissippi, but no communication was suffered between 
her and the shore; and the ship being ordered away 
was about to sail, but for what port was unknown. 
Jerome Bonaparte was then at Amsterdam." 

Chancellor Livingston returned from Europe on 
this ship ; but it is not true that Jerome was in Am- 
sterdam at the time stated. He at once yielded to 
the dictates of the Dictator, forsook his wife, returned 
to service in the French Navy, and was, on the 4th 
of June 1805, erasing off Genoa as commander of the 
frigate Pomona, attended by two brigs — a single man 
again, as the anonymous correspondent said Jerome 
declared he would be on his arrival in France. 

Digressing again into the political affairs of Holland, 
we copy the following paragraphs found in the Lon- 
don papers of the 5th of April 1805 : — 

" A letter from Rotterdam, of the 27th ultimo, 
states that the people of that country seem in general 
pleased with the new constitution, as it assimilates so 
much with their old one. The best informed politi- 
cians think that at the period of a general peace 
the stadtholderian government will be re-established 
through the intervention and influence of the cabinet 
of Berlin. 

"Mr. Schimmelpenninck will remain at the head of 
the government till that time. Before the revolution, 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 191 

he was a man very little known — a barrister. He is 
of a good family. His behavior, since he has been in 
a political situation, has gained him the esteem of 
many of his countrymen. He assumed his functions 
on the 29th of April." 

The English papers in their issues of June 1805, 
said that the ship Erin of Baltimore was at Amster- 
dam in May, with Madame Bonaparte in board, 
" where she was not suifered to go on shore. Madame 
is in the last stage of pregnancy. Her brother did 
not think it safe to proceed to Baltimore. The Erin 
was in the Texel a week, and was placed between a 
sixty-four gun ship, and a frigate, a guard-boat kept 
about the ship at night." 

On this situation we would forbear to indulge in 
any remarks. Our pen lifts from the attempt, and 
perspiration starts at the task. But we would ask a 
few questions of the civilized, the great, and the 
learned maritime jurist ; for we make no pretensions 
to learning ourselves. What principle underlying the 
law of nations did the ship Erin violate ? What 
code prepared by the wisdom of the great past ? and 
what of the national statutes, or the unwritten law, 
the law of custom ? What doctrine founded in inter- 
national courtesies ? 

The Erin, armed with nothing more dangerous than 
an American flag and register, and with nothing less 
respectable, was entitled to the respect and confidence 
of every nation, yet she was driven under guns ! She 
was simply a merchant vessel of the United States, 
with a cabin fitted up expressly for the accommodation 



192 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

of a lady. What is " a vessel of the United States?'' 
It is not " a vessel of, or belonging to, the govern- 
ment, carrying arms and munitions of war ; but simply 
a ship or vessel belonging to a citizen or citizens of 
the United States, carrying their national flag. The 
Erin had on board her register and flag, granted to 
her on compliance with an Act of Congress passed on 
the 31st of December 1792, and approved by Presi- 
dent Washington himself. She carried nothing known 
as " contraband of war." She was a merchant vessel, 
we say, owned by William Patterson of Baltimore ; 
and her clearance from Baltimore certified that she 
carried " no guns." Her character and documents, 
therefore, subject by law and custom to the inspection 
of all nations, declared that she was not dangerous 
to the nations "with which the United States are at 
peace," or even at war. She was not an alien, foreign 
to all nationalities, but a fully documented ship, pre- 
pared for all the privileges of the ocean, and fitted for 
entry at all the ports of civilization. On her arrival 
at the Texel, the authorities there well knew that no 
one of her crew or passengers could be made a polit- 
ical prisoner, or a prisoner of war. The party charged 
with some imaginary violation of the laws of France, 
left the vessel in Portugal, an entirely different na- 
tionality, with which the French were at peace ; and 
the Erin therefore passively stood before Amsterdam 
clear of the least guilty charge. But she was not 
allowed to enter any port within the jurisdiction of 
France ; for the Emperor of that country sent two 
gun-ships alongside of her, for no other reason than 
to frighten a lady with "no guns." 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 193 

If the scene could be photographed on our skies, 
we think sun, moon, and stars might pale at the sight 
of the strange figures ; and the affrighted comet, 
dropping his load of material for building and repair- 
ing worlds, would depart a tailless wanderer through 
the deeper blue of the heavens. 

Mr. Schimmelpenninck, whom we have already in- 
troduced, w r as at the time of Madame Bonaparte's 
arrival before Amsterdam styled " Grand Pensionary 
of the Batavian Republic," and was then at the head 
of the government of that country. 

Sylvanus Bourne, Esq., who had the honor of bear- 
ing to John Adams the intelligence of his election to 
the office of first Vice-President of the United States, 
under Washington as first President, was Consul- 
General of the United States at Amsterdam, when 
Madame Bonaparte was under guard of French guns, 
in the Erin, before that city ; and from the paper we 
copy below, we discover the highly honorable and 
manly course he took with respect to the humiliating 
condition of his countrywoman. The paper appears 
to be in the handwriting of Mr. Bourne himself, and 
we copy it in full : — 

" Copy of a letter of S. Bourne, Consul-General 
of the United States at Amsterdam, to His Excel- 
lency R. J. Schimmelpennnick, Grand Pensionary of 
the Batavian Republic, in the case of the ship Erin, 
Captain Stephenson, May — , 1805. 

" Sir, — I am called upon by imperious motives in 
which the influence of private friendship combines 
with that of public duty to address you on the inter- 



194 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

esting case of the American ship Erin, Captain Ste- 
phenson, late from Lisbon, and the passengers on 
board, now lying in the Texel Roads, under the most 
rigorous interdiction of any communication with the 
shore. 

" I shall waive all contest on the question of right 
resulting from the treaty between the Batavian Re- 
public and the United States to carry on a free com- 
merce with this country ; nor shall I inquire how far 
the circumstances under which this vessel arrives, 
may constitute any illegality in the case. I am not 
ignorant of the avowed cause of the detention, and 
have only to ask that an immediate decision may be 
had thereon. My amiable countrywoman, who is on 
board, is very far advanced in a state of pregnancy, 
which renders her situation peculiarly delicate and 
deserving of attention. Her sufferings already, from 
causes which perhaps cannot be controlled, are suffi- 
ciently severe, and sure I am you will be anxious that 
they should not be aggravated by any unnecessary 
delay. I must therefore entertain the fullest confi- 
dence that you will immediately cause orders to be 
given for a due supply of fresh provisions to be fur- 
nished the ship, and that she be suffered to depart, if 
Mrs. Bonaparte cannot be permitted to find an asy- 
lum here. In this request her brother joins, united 
with that of having permission to go on board in 
person, or to send on board a sealed letter relative to 
the futur.e destination of the vessel. 

" Submitting the whole matter to the operation of 
those sentiments of propriety and justice which emi- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 195 

nently distinguish your character, I have the honor 
to be your obedient servant." 

In May 1805, a London paper says, " The ship 
Erin, of Baltimore, arrived at Dover on the 19th of 
May. Madame Bonaparte was on board last from 
Amsterdam;" and on the 30th of May the same pa- 
pers said, " Madame Jerome Bonaparte has seen very 
little company since her arrival in London." 

For the present we will leave Madame Bonaparte 
in London. She has found an asylum at last among 
her own people. She is but nineteen years of age ; 
yet she is on an ocean of trouble, and she greatly 
needs rest. She will have kind friends there to nurse 
the embers of hope during the days of her sojourn- 
ment, and the calm nights which breed multitudinous 
thoughts. 

To hear the next sad story, the kind reader will 
please follow me over to Genoa. Here we find " Al- 
exander," perhaps the identical person whom our old 
friend Maupertuis styled " My dear Alexander." We 
mean Alexander Le Camus, and here is his letter. 
We copy it in full. It is addressed to William Pat- 
terson, Baltimore. 

" Genoa, 12th of June 1805. 

" Dear Sir — Mr. Bonaparte did not let you hear 
from him since his arrival among his family, on account 
of 'painful circumstances in which he was placed. 
Notwithstanding the difficulties there were to be level- 
led in adjusting the affair with his brother, he con- 
stantly entertained great hopes ; but your daughter 
has far removed, if not destroyed for ever, the possi- 



196 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

bility of a reconciliation. Being obliged to leave her 
in Lisbon, Mr. Bonaparte thought she could not have 
been committed to a better guide than her brother, 
and that her conduct would have agreed with the plan 
that he was to carry into execution; her situation, and 
her own interest, would have advised her not to take 
any improper steps ; but finding in Holland orders 
which prohibited her landing on the French territory, 
she imprudently went to London, instead of going to 
a neutral port, as Embden or Bremen ; and her arri- 
val in that city mentioned in the newspapers, has 
excited some rumors, and will certainly give occasion 
for any kind of observations directed against his 
family. The Emperor, in a letter which Mr. Bona- 
parte received yesterday, expressed to him a strong 
dissatisfaction at it. In the present circumstances 
of war, such a conduct was not dictated by a good 
policy. It breaks all correspondence between them 
both, and offends the emperor, whose generous heart 
would have been converted to more favorable disposi- 
tions. 

" However, Mr. Bonaparte begs me to assure you 
that he will never deviate from the principles of honor 
and delicacy which were always the basis of his cha- 
racter, and on which his happiness is established. He 
desires you to rely entirely upon him, and let time 
obliterate the first impressions made on the mind of 
the Emperor. 

" I am happy that Mr. Bonaparte has chosen me 
to transmit to you the expressions of his true attach- 
ment for you and family. He does not forget the 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 197 

children, whom he misses very much. We speak often 
of you all, and of our good acquaintances in Ame 
rica. Will you be so good as to recall myself to their 
remembrance, and be persuaded of my perfect esteem 
and attachment. 

" Yours, truly, 

" Alexander Le Camus." 

The preceding letter speaks too plainly for itself to 
need explanation ; and we give another letter from 
General Tuerreau, the French Envoy at Washington, 
of whom we ' will shortly have Madame Bonaparte's 
opinion. 

Dating Washington, July 3d 1805, he writes : — 

" I wish to ascertain with any person appointed by 
you the situation of the country-house which I hold 
from you, as well as to make a statement of the furni- 
ture left by you, and the repairs which might be neces- 
sary to make in the said house. This I hope will be as 
agreeable to you as to me. As we have not agreed yet 
on the yearly price for the rent of this country-house, 
please let me know it, with the date that it is to run 
on my account. If any immediate repairs are now 
judged necessary, I will with great pleasure, when 
agreed by you, pay them upon the rent. I am, with 
consideration, sir, 

" Tuerreau. 

"Mr. Patterson, Merchant, Baltimore." 

We have no more letters from the Minister at pre- 
sent, but Madame Bonaparte will let us hear again 
from her father's tenant by a missile which she hurls 
at him from England. 



198 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

Using the parlance common to the science of agri- 
culture, let us " knock off cutting," and " shock up" 
that which is already down. 

We must bear in mind that the mother of the 
Bonaparte family recommended her son Jerome to 
come directly to France and send his wife to Holland, 
where she should remain whilst negotiations for the 
imperial recognition of her marriage were pending at 
Paris. It is not clearly seen why she did so instruct 
her son ; but the eye of history which " penetrates 
the cabinets of kings," and finally rests upon the 
form of mystery, will soon bring it to full view. She 
knew, and Jerome also knew, that, with respect to 
government, Holland was just as French as France. 
According to the first epistle of Le Camus, Jerome, 
after her humiliating detention before Amsterdam, 
upbraids his wife for not going to a neutral port after 
she cleared the Texel. If going to a neutral port 
was proper at last, it should also have been proper at 
first. It does not therefore fail to appear that the 
Bonapartes were determined upon a laugh at her 
" credulity." National diplomacy had already estab- 
lished the precedent of conducting negotiations for 
the adjustment of national differences on the soil of 
neutral countries, and Holland was not therefore the 
place for carrying on negotiations concerning the 
marriage. With respect to negotiations concerning 
a marriage only, London should have been considered 
just as neutral as Embden, Bremen, or Copenhagen. 

" She imprudently went to London," says Le 
Camus. We ask why was going to London so impru- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 199 

dent ? He lamely and miserably answers the ques- 
tion himself, because it " will certainly give occasion 
for any kind of observations directed against his 
family," and " such a conduct was not directed by a 
good policy. It breaks off all correspondence between 
them both, and offends the Emperor!" He had no 
other ground for offence than that her name w T as 
Patterson, and the King of England had a right to a 
like ground of offence because her name was Bona- 
parte. But he was not offended. He had no fears 
for the loss of his crown because the "young person ,, 
w r ho had attached herself to a Bonaparte had arrived 
before London. He received her in his dominions 
notwithstanding her name and history, and he also 
honored her national colors. 

"It breaks off all correspondence between them," 
says Le Camus. It need not be broken off; for there 
were her two brothers, her physician, Dr. Gamier, 
and her lady attendants, all fully competent to con- 
duct it for Jerome just as well as Mr. Le Camus 
could conduct it for him with Mr. Patterson in Balti- 
more. Jerome might have conducted the correspond- 
ence himself without his signature, and bound his 
wife and her attendants under a sacred promise to 
burn his letters, as he said he had bound his father- 
in-law Mr. Patterson. 

Before Jerome and his wife embarked for Europe, 
he had learned from Dacres, Pichon, and Tuerreau, 
his own countrymen and others, that an order had 
gone forth under the imperial seal forbidding her to 
board a French vessel, or " put a foot on French 



200 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

territory;" and he was therefore well advised, in 
advance, that she would not be permitted to land in 
Holland. But in the face of these warnings Jerome 
deliberately sent his wife to that country, and conse- 
quently this act was what I have heard ladies call " a 
come-off." 

Madame Bonaparte's first and only child was borr 
at Camberwell, near London, on the 7th of July 
1805. It was a boy, and she named him Jerome 
Napoleon Bonaparte ! — Not Patterson. 

We next meet Mr. Robert Patterson in London. 
The only letter we have from him touching the event 
just referred to is one which we shall now place 
before the reader. It is headed " Original per London 
packet via Philadelphia," and on the cover is written 
"To Mr. William Patterson, Baltimore." 

Dating "London, 27th July 1805," he writes : — 

" Dear Sir : I have now the pleasure to inform 
you that my sister is well recovered from her confine- 
ment. She has been down stairs two or three days. 
The child was vaccinated five or six days since, and is 
doing well. 

" We are still without any news from the continent. 
The vigilance of Jerome's friends will, I am very 
much afraid, completely prevent his hearing from us 

and we from him. Poor B was so much afraid of 

another visit from the police that he has returned me 
by Mr. Monroe some letters which he received from 
me since his enlargement. 

" I have as yet had but little conversation with Mr. 
Monroe. He does not, however, say anything very 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 201 

flattering to our hopes. I shall consult him on the 
propriety of our going to the continent, and will en- 
deavor to persuade my sister to whatever he may 
advise ; but I do not think she can be diverted from 
her intention of going. 

" Everything on our part shall be done to bring 
the affair to issue before we leave Europe, which can 
scarcely be before next spring. Write us to this 
place, for were we even on the continent, letters will 
reach us just as soon as if sent there direct. Yours 
affectionately." 

It is not easy to determine who was meant by 

" Poor B " in the above letter. Le Camus says 

that Bonaparte was at Genoa on the 12th of July, 
and received a letter from the Emperor " yesterday," 
which was the 11th. Another account, given on a 
previous page of this book, says he was there also on 
the 4th of June in command of the frigate Pomona 
and two brigs ; and it will be seen that Le Camus 
locates him as still there on the 29th of July, and it 
is not likely that an officer on duty in the French 
Navy would be subject to the visits of the Genoese 
police ; nor is it likely that Jerome would return to 
Mr. Patterson, by way of France, any letters on the 
subject of his marriage. Can it be that the writer 
refers to Mr. Bentalou and the police of Paris ? or 
does he refer to some person in London subject to the 
visits of the police of that city ? 

Before Mr. Patterson and Madame Bonaparte 
begin to send in more letters, we will prepare the 
reader for the reception of the surprising intelligence 
13 



202 THE B ONAPARTE-PA T TEE SON MARRIA GE. 

of which they are the vehicle, by giving our friend 
Le Camus another hearing. His letters are very 
entertaining and refreshing to us, because he writes 
for Jerome. Young ladies, especially, who are gen- 
erally trying to learn how to get married themselves, 
often find that the experience of those already mar- 
ried is instructive to them ; and Mr. Le Camus in the 
following letter may furnish them with some information 
that will be useful in directing their choice of a hus- 
band. From the reading of this letter, they may be 
impressed with the belief that " all is not gold that 
glitters," and that everything drawn is not the " prize 
which most of their sex covet." 

" Genoa, 29th July 1805. 
" Dear Sir— 

"I committed the 13th of June to the care of 
the American Consul in this town, a letter for you 
stating the circumstances of the separation of your 
daughter from Mr. Bonaparte. Nothing more has 
occurred since. I have received no news from Eng- 
land but once by the doctor, who arrived here ten 
days ago. He left Madame in good health and spirits, 
notwithstanding the trouble of her situation. He 
met, at his landing at Rotterdam, Mr. Robert ready 
to embark for England, where he must be at this 
moment with his sister. I entertain no doubt that he 
will advise her to take the proper steps that are to be 
followed in the present affair. In my interview with 
him at Amsterdam, I explained to him the conduct of 
Mr. Bonaparte, the order and propositions of the Em- 
peror, the consequences of an untimely opposition to 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 203 

them, and the plan of conduct to pursue. He must 
have mentioned to you all these particulars. I added 
the instructions which Jerome had received from M. 
* * *, and his wishes to see them executed. 

" You know him too well, dear Sir, to misrepresent 
in the slightest degree his intention, and not to be 
persuaded that he will leave nothing undone to bring 
the Emperor to a reconciliation to which his happiness 
is so closely annexed. I cannot repeat to you too 
often the assurance of the sentiments in which he is 
persevering. Nothing is neglected on his part to 
prove him worthy of your confidence, attachment, 
and general esteem ; but now too much precipitation 
would be fruitless, and operate nothing else but the 
ruin of your son-in-law. Your daughter has only to 
yield to the present, and expect a better time. Mr. 
Bonaparte hopes that you will advise her not to reject 
the marks of the benevolence of the Emperor, if you 
consider them in the proper light. A refusal would 
offend him and destroy everything. 

u When Madame shall be able to undertake a sea voy- *t 
age, Mr. Bonaparte desires, if she is not recalled, 
that she will return to America and live there in her 
own house, and in the same way as she did when she 
was in Baltimore, and as if she w T as expecting her 
husband, until he shall succeed in obtaining her recall. 
He will anticipate all her wishes, and provide for 
everything in that momentary establishment. 

" Mr. Bonaparte cannot write to you in this mo 
ment. This privation is very grievous to him. You 
will soon know the reasons of it. Do not let anybody 



204 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

know the contents of your letters mentioning family 
matters. Keep them open only to your wife. 

" Mr. Bonaparte has in this port under his com- 
mand a small squadron of five men-of-war, and is 
ready to sail in a few days for a mission. If he is 
successful, he will ask his wife as a reward of his 
conduct. 

" I have not in my recollection the debts that Mr. 
Bonaparte may have left behind, but they are trifling. 
The bill of M. Chandron is correct. Your accounts 
will be settled in Paris as soon as you please. I 
hope that my letter will find all the family in good 
health, and relieve you from anxiety on account of a 
beloved daughter. I address this under the cover of 
your correspondent in Lisbon, and hope it will be 
conveyed to America by a safe opportunity. 

" Mr. Bonaparte kisses the children tenderly, and 
sends his love to the family. I beg you to present 
my compliments to her, and not to forget that I will 
always remain your affectionate and devoted 

"Le Camus." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Robert Patterson at Dover — His letter from that place — Je- 
rome Bonaparte again — Mr. Monroe and Mr. Patterson — 
Madame Bonaparte going to the Continent — Her letter to her 
father — Mr. Patterson writes from London — Another letter 
from Madame Bonaparte — Marchioness of Donnegal — General 
Tuerreau — Mr. Monroe — Deceitfulness of the French — Dr. 
Gamier is deceptive — He recommends Madame Bonaparte to 
go home — Jerome does the same — She goes when ready — Le 
Camus again — Napoleon's speech — Jerome at Malmaison — He 
writes to the Emperor — The Emperor's reply — Jerome's mar- 
riage has no existence — Mr. Mcllhiny of London — Madame 
Bonaparte and child embark for home — Captain Bentalou 
writes again — Amusing letters — Jerome dejected — His "little 
girl" affair — u My dear little wife" — Queen of Etruria spurns 
Jerome — His second marriage — Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte — 
His death — His letter. 

We next find Mr. Robert Patterson at Dover, Eng- 
land, a seaport on the strait of Dover, opposite 
Calais, France. He is not far from Lille, the resi- 
dence of Mr. George Matthew Patterson. Dating 
August 13th 1805, he addresses a letter to Messrs. 
William Patterson & Sons, Baltimore : — 

" Gentlemen,'' says he, "I have the pleasure of 
informing you of Captain Duncan's arrival. He 
came in consequence of orders to that effect that I 
had given to one or two pilots of this place for him. 
It is my intention to send the Robert home to you, 
and you may make your insurance accordingly. She 
has $60,000 on board. I believe we will put on 
board fifteen or twenty tons of coal, and subject her 

(205) 



206 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSOiV MARK I A GE. 

thereby to a tonnage duty in order to get a regular 
clearance to Baltimore. 

" It was with infinite satisfaction that I learned 
by a letter of the 27th July from S. & H. of their 
having landed the dollars from on board the Balti- 
more in conformity to my directions, which it seems 
they have got rid of without loss. She was to have 
gone into Lisbon in a ballast of brick and iron for 
specie. , I have written to that place to have her 
despatched from thence to Baltimore. Before I knew 
of her specie being landed, I had given similar orders 
as those for Dunkin to the pilots to send her here 
for my orders. If she does come into this place, we 
will consider how far it is prudent to send her to 
Lisbon for specie ; but let her sail from what port in 
Europe she may after I can convey instructions to 
them, it must be for Baltimore, as it will not answer 
to let her proceed to India. 

" Captain Spafford, in the London packet, expe- 
rienced some little damage in a gale of wind, and put 
into the Downs to repair it, on or about the 7th inst. 
He got under weigh again, but was immediately 
boarded by an officer from one of His Majesty's gun 
brigs. His papers have been sent to London to see 
whether they can do anything with her ; they are all 
correct, and there can be no doubt but she will be 
immediately given up. 

" We are still without any information from Jerome 
that can be depended upon. All idea of visiting the 
continent has been renounced from, I think, a just 
apprehension that it would revive the passions of his 



THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERS ON MARRIA GE. 207 

brother, as it would be, in some measure, opposing 
him ; and particularly as such a step would have a 
tendency to counteract any exertions that Jerome may 
be making. 

" I have mentioned, in my former letters, that all 
vessels fallen in with his majesty's cruisers coming 
from America with cargoes which they had brought 
from either of the Indies, are sent in for adjudication. 
Their having landed their cargoes in the United States 
is of no avail, as they allege here it is a mere eva- 
sion ; an'd that they must consider the voyage to 
Europe as a continuation of the former one. 
" Yours, affectionately, 

" Robert Patterson." 

"P. S. Mr. Monroe and myself had some conver- 
sation whether it would not be as well, if not better, 
that Betsy should return home ; as it is uncertain 
when the affair will be brought to issue. I return to- 
morrow to London, and if we determine on it will 
embark in the Robert. I do not, however, think it 
probable we shall return this winter. She and her 
son are well." 

This letter came by the ship Warren via New York, 
and bears the post-mark "New York, October 5." 

Next in the order of time comes the following short 
letter in the handwriting of Madame Bonaparte, di- 
rected to William Patterson, Esq., Baltimore^ We 
give it in full, in every particular : — 

" August 15th 1805. 
" Dear Sir,— 

" Our plans are changed with respect to Mrs. An- 



208 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE, 

derson — that is to say, Mrs. Anderson does not mean 
to go until next spring ; therefore I do not send some 
things to Mama that I mentioned in my letter to her ; 
but by the first good opportunity they shall be sent. 
We have just heard that Bonaparte is going to Paris 
for a few days. 

" Eliza." 

To this letter, as to others, she places the five let- 
ters first in order in the name of Elizabeth. The 
time this letter arrived in Baltimore is unknown. As 
it bears no American post-mark, it must have come 
as an enclosure. 

On the 16th Mr. Patterson is in London. On that 
day he wrote a business-letter to the house in Balti- 
more, which is of no interest here, and the following 
private letter to his father, which we copy in full : — 

" London, 16th August 1805. 
"Dear Sir, — 

" Since writing the house this morning, we have 
prevailed on Mrs. Anderson to remain here, as it is 
possible I may find it necessary or beneficial to go to 
France ; in which case it would be more proper that 
my sister should not be left alone. 

" I received to-day a letter from Mr. O'Meally, 
dated 2d August, from Paris. He mentions that Je- 
rome was expected the next week there ; but that he 
would not remain more than eight or ten days. They 
were fitting up a house for him. 

" Yours, respectfully, 

" Robert Patterson." 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 209 

Next we have a letter from Madame Bonaparte, in 
which she does not fail to remember General Tuer- 
reau, the French Minister at Washington, and other 
gentlemen, who appear to be conversant with her 
affairs. She appears to think, as well she may, that 
deception has been practised upon her; and that 
without a real friend in Europe, she stood alone. We 
copy the letter in full. It was addressed " William 
Patterson, Esq., Baltimore." 

"September 3d 1805. 
" Dear Sir,— 

" The John & Joseph sails to-morrow, and although 
I have nothing new to write, I cannot resist sending 
you a few~ lines. Prudence, who was of no earthly 
use, sailed in the Baltimore. I wrote you by her that 
we had no letters from Bonaparte — but Dr. Garnier 
wrote to me from Genoa the 15th of July, advising 
me to return to America, and that Bonaparte desired 
it ; and that I would not see him before a year or 
eighteen months. As Bonaparte did not write him- 
self, we are disposed to think that Mr. Garnier wrote 
the letter of his own accord, and indeed the letter 
bears all the marks of being a deception. 

" I told you, likewise, that an intimate friend of 
the Marchioness of Donnegal, residing at Genoa, had 
seen Bonaparte on the 29th of June. He requested 
that person to inform me that his sentiments towards 
me were not changed ; and that he was still as much 
attached to me as ever. The Marchioness of Donne- 
gal is at a watering-place, Tunbridge Wells. She 
has written to me. 



210 THE BONAPARTE-PA TTERSON MARRIAGE. 

" I have written three times to Lucien Bonaparte, 
but have never been able to get a letter conveyed to 
Jerome. I told you likewise of the proposition that 
Le Camus brought to Robert ; but he said Bonaparte 
desired me to keep quiet for some time, and he would 
try to effect something. 

" Mr. Monroe thinks I had better remain here some 
time — indeed, the climate agrees very well with me, 
and I have no objection to staying as long as you 
please. We live extremely retired, and I spend as 
little money as possible. We have no letters from 
you since our arrival here. 

" Yours, affectionately, 

"Eliza." 

" P. S. I mentioned to you before to beware of 
Tuerreau, the French Minister. He will write every- 
thing you say. The French are very intriguing and 
deceitful. Likewise be on your guard before Mr. 
O'Donnell, who, though a very good man, repeats 
everything to his wife. This I know to be a fact. I 
am very circumspect here." 

The following letter from Mr. Robert Patterson, 
enclosing an extract from a letter written by Napo- 
leon, the Emperor, to his brother Jerome, will fully 
explain the letters of Le Camus and Madame Bona- 
parte, which have just been brought to the notice of 
the reader, the former in the preceding, and the latter 
in the current chapter. 

" London, 5th September 1805. 
" Dear Sir, — 

" Since we have been in this country, the only in- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 211 

telligence we have got from the Continent is by a 
letter from Dr. Gamier, dated at Genoa. In that he 
recommends Betsy's going home, and gives this ad- 
vice in the name of her husband. But as we cannot 
conceive that Jerome would direct the doctor to write 
on a subject of this nature, and as we have some 
reason to think the doctor is not entitled to much 
regard in consequence of his conduct in Paris, we 
are determined not to act on anything coming from 
him. 

" I mentioned in my letters from Amsterdam last 
spring that Le Camus was the bearer of a letter which 
the Emperor had written to Jerome, and which the 
latter had given him with a view that it should be 
shown his wife, in order to enable her, I suppose, to 
judge of the situation with his family. As the pres- 
ent is a good opportunity, I will repeat the substance 
of it here, which is as follows. The Emperor begins 
by saying he will never acknowledge the marriage, 
and directs Jerome to write his wife to return to her 
family. On condition that she will, and does not as- 
sume the name of Bonaparte, to ivhich he says she 
has no right to, he says he ivill direct his minister in 
America to alloiv her a pension of 60,000 francs per 
annum. 

"lam very desirous of knowing whether we ought 
to accept of any terms in the event of a recognisal 
being impossible by a new marriage on his part. My 
own opinion is never to hear of a settlement without 
his friends should force him to marry again ; and that 
in no case ought she to give up her name. If her 



212 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

husband cares to make any settlement on her, it is 
well enough ; but the principal would be better than 
a precarious annual payment, if it could be had. 

" I really see no prospect of the Emperor's becom- 
ing reconciled, and do not think it will be of any kind 
of use to wait longer than the spring, at which time 
we will embark on our return. If any of your ves- 
sels are in the way, we will return by one of them. 

" Betsy and her son are both well. He is really a 
fine large fellow. I was a little indisposed when I 
arrived in this country, but am now perfectly recov- 
ered. Yours affectionately, Robert Patterson. 

" P. S. It is probable that I will repair to Paris in 
the course of the winter — that is if there is any pros- 
pect of doing anything." 

This letter was sent by the vessel u John & Joseph," 
Captain Manning, and the enclosure, with the pref- 
atory remark of Mr. Patterson, reads as follows : — 

" On Jerome's arrival at M — , he wished to have 
seen his brother, but the latter would not receive him. 
He was however told to write, which Jerome did, just 
mentioning his arrival. An answer was returned in 
substance merely as follows : — 

" I have received your letter of this morning. There 
are no faults that you have committed which may not 
he effaced in my eyes by a sincere repentance. Your 
marriage is null both in a religious and legal point of 
vieiv. I will never acknowledge it. Write to Miss 
Patterson to return to the United States ; and tell her 
it is not possible to give things another turn. On con- 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 213 

dition of her going to America, I will alloiv her a pen- 
sion during her life of 60,000 francs per year, pro- 
vided she does not take the name of my family, to which 
she has no right, her marriage having no existence.*' 

This paper is marked " copy and translation" in 
the handwriting of Mr. Robert Patterson, and it is 
the " piece" which Bonaparte " spoke." The abbre- 
viation M — , in the above is Malrnaison. 

We will now introduce to the reader, Mr. James Mc- 
Ilhiny, of London, Mr. Patterson's commercial corres- 
pondent in that city. Dating London, 16th Sep- 
tember 1805, he writes: " Dear Sir — Your much es- 
teemed favor of the 18th of July, I received a few 
days ago, and have noted the contents. Madame 
Bonaparte and her child, her brother Robert, and 
Mrs. Anderson will embark in a few days on board 
the brig Mars, Captain Murphy, which will soon be 
ready to sail from hence for Baltimore. I could have 
wished it had not been so late in the season, but still I 
am in hopes from the vessel being a fast sailer, that 
she will be safe with you before the north-west winds 
become severe on your coast. The child as well as its 
mother are in a very good state of health, which is a 
fortunate circumstance, as I fear they will not find 
themselves as comfortably accommodated as they 
were on board of the Erin — the cabin of this vessel 
being very small. However, they are determined to 
go, although I believe they have written to you not 
long since that they had concluded to remain here all 
the winter, and return to America in the spring, hav- 
ing given up all idea of going to the continent, not 



214 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE 

having had any encouragement from the party on 
that side of the water ; and indeed I have always 
been of opinion that if anything can be done, Amer- 
ica will be the best place to have matters arranged; 
and at all events she must, I think, be more comfort- 
ably situated with her relations and friends in Amer- 
ica, than she could be in a strange country. 

" Robert no doubt has advised you of the important 
changes he has made in some of the voyages you had 
planned — finding it absolutely necessary in con- 
sequence of the rigid measures recently gone into by 
this government to suppress that valuable branch 
of American commerce. It would appear now how- 
ever that they were relaxing in some degree, and will 
let all pass except where the ship is bound direct to 
or from the mother country to the colonies. 

" It is to be hoped the American government will 
take some measures to have that part of your valu- 
able trade put on a. more respectable footing, and that 
their flag in future will not meet with so many de- 
grading insults as it has hitherto met with. 

" All accounts we have recently from agricultural 
societies as well as individuals state the crops gener- 
ally throughout Europe to be very good ; conse- 
quently the price of grain has been on the decline ; 
so much so, that there will not be any chance for 
Americans finding a market for their wheat or flour 
in any part of Europe, unless the destruction and 
waste that must occur from the immense armies that 
are now taking the field once more on the continent to 
ravage and destroy one another, may have some effect 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 215 

to keep up the prices of provisions ; for there is not 
any manner of doubt that the combined powers will 
make some great effort to try to reduce the gigantic 
power of Bonaparte ; and at present it is difficult to 
say what the result of so great a contest may be ; but 
this I may venture to risk as my opinion that a general 
peace is yet far distant, and indeed I think ere that 
event takes place you will hear of a wonderful change 
in the political affairs in some one of the two great 
contending powers ; for you may be assured that 
this country while under the present government 
will never make peace with Bonaparte, unless he 
relinquishes the whole or the greater part of his con- 
quered dominions ; and, on the other hand, we all 
know T his determined and unlimited ambition, so that 
there must some great and unforeseen disaster befall 
some one of the parties, before a peace can be made." 

This letter was addressed to William Patterson, Esq., 
Baltimore, and endorsed " Ship Huron via New York." 

On the 21st of September, Mr. Mcllhiny writes 
again to Mr. Patterson: — 

" Dear Sir — I had the pleasure of addressing you a 
few days ago, the chief object of which was to advise 
you of the sudden resolution of Eobert and Madame 
Bonaparte to embark for America, and that they had 
engaged to go in the brig Mars, Captain Murphy, 
from hence for Baltimore. Since then we have been 
busily engaged in getting things ready for their de- 
parture, and was in hopes that by this time they 
would have been ready to sail ; but from some unfore- 



216 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

seen occurrence at the custom-house respecting some 
things belonging to the captain the brig was prevented 
clearing out. The matter is now however finally 
arranged, and I see nothing to prevent their going on 
board on the 25th inst. at Gravesend, where they 
intend to embark, and at which time the brig will be 
ready and clear to sail from that place direct for 
Baltimore." 

This letter came on the ship Enterprise via New 
York. 

On the 9th of October 1805 we have another hear- 
ing from Captain Bentalou in Paris. After writing a 
long letter to Mr. William Patterson concerning some 
bales of merchandise about which there was some mis- 
understanding, he adds to his letter the following 
postscript : — 

" Enclosed in the last letter from Robert in Lon- 
don, I found two letters for Jerome, one I believe was 
from yourself, and the other from his wife. Jerome 
arrived here the latter end of last week; and deter- 
mined at all hazards, I enclosed them under one cover, 
directed them in the form required, and, accompanied 
by my servant last Monday, I myself went to his 
loor, and saw the packet delivered to his own porter ; 
to that there can be no doubt but he received them on 
hat morning. I have not since heard anything from 
him, nor do I believe he would dare have an interview 
with me. Should he, however, communicate a wish 
of the kind, notwithstanding the persecution I have 
already experienced, I would brave all danger to act 
the part of the friend I profess to be." 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 217 

On the 17th October, Captain Bentalou writes 
another letter from Paris which he directs in the fol- 
lowing words: "Robert Patterson, Esq., or in his 
absence William Patterson, Senr., Esq., Merchant, 
Baltimore." The writer says, " In all conscience 
your silence is beyond all reason, and my anxiety is 
as great as can be well imagined to know where you 
now are, and whether it is true that your sister is 
gone, as we have been told by a lieutenant of our 
Navy, who says whilst he was in London he saw you 
daily and became intimate with you. I notwithstand- 
ing doubt the fact much because I think the season 
too far advanced, and moreover suppose that had that 
been the case, you would ere this have returned to 
your post ; and were you there, if not to me, you 
surely would have wrote to somebody else here. 

"On the 16th ultimo, I received the last from you, 
dated the 2d of August, with the two enclosed. The 
person to whom they were directed lately arrived here, 
and the moment I found out his domicil, I enclosed 
the two letters under a blank cover, directed them 
properly, and on Monday the 7th inst. attended by 
my servant, I saw him deliver them to his porter ; 
and as he occupied a house to himself, there could be 
no mistake, and no doubt but that he must have re- 
ceived them on that morning. I have since learned 
from a lady present that, on the next day in the even- 
ing, at one of his sister's, he appeared extremely de- 
jected and pensive. Everybody ', she said, took notice 
of it; and whether the receipt of those letters were 

the cause of it, is best known to himself; but I have, 
14 



218 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

and will take care not to let that lady, or anybody 
else here, know anything about it. I have not since 
heard anything more transpire about him, but I am 
on the watch, and promise you that if either himself 
or any of his attendants have any wish to see me, 
and let me know it, I will brave any danger for an 
interview which would be as gratifying to my feelings 
as could possibly be to you or your relatives ; but 
if he really has any inclination of the kind, I fear he 
knows himself to be so closely observed that he will 
not dare to risk anything of the kind. Rewbell is no 
more here, and I regret it very much, because from 
their old acquaintance, he would probably have seen 
him, and no doubt his attendants, frequently, and 
through that channel I could have come to something 
direct ; but deprived of that safe intermediary, I do 
not for the present know any other person so suitable 
with whom I could safely confide. I have however 
been told by one who pretends to know it from the 
right quarter, that when his brother first saw him he 
addressed him thus : — 

" ' So, sir, you are the first of the family who shame- 
fully abandoned his post. It will require many 
splendid actions to wipe off that stain from your rep- 
utation. As to your love affair with your little girl, 
1 do not regard it* 

u Whatever degree of credit or consequence you 
may be inclined to give to that report, I beg of you 
to conceal it from your sister. For what exploits he 
intends him for, it is not yet known, nor can it be 
foreseen ; and if what is said is true it would appear 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 219 

that he will remain here unemployed this winter. He 
is now in the house of one of his absent sisters, and it 
is asserted that he will shortly take possession of the 
one lately owned by his brother-in-law, the entrance 
to which is by an arch which you had in view from 
the window of the apartment you last occupied here. 
It was probably thought too small for the other, as a 
much larger one is preparing for him. 

" After having written the foregoing to you by 
Russell, I am informed by James Mcllhiny that he 
has this day received a letter from you w^hich he has 
not thought proper to communicate, and barely tells 
me that you and your sister had embarked, and must 
by this time be half w T ay home. Taking his word for 
it, I will not send this as I intended it, but as I under- 
stand that Waddle is not yet gone, I will this moment 
go to General Armstrong, and if in time I will 
request him to insert this with his despatches." 

On the 18th Mr. Bentalou continues : " The depar- 
ture of Mr. Waddle having been from day to clay 
delayed, affords me the opportunity of adding this to 
my two last of 9th and 16th, all going by the same 
conveyance. By this however I hasten to impart to 
you much more pleasing intelligence than I were able 
to do by my former. It comes to me from a lady 
much in our interest, and from whom I expect occa- 
sionally to receive much useful information ; and from 
her I have learned that last evening, at a select com- 
pany collected at one of his sisters, where my inform- 
ant was, and our man too, after a concert, dancing was 
introduced; he was pressed, and as my friend is a 



220 THE B ONAPAR TE-PA TTERSON MARRIA GE. 

good dancer, he took her for his partner, and in the 
of course of conversation spoke of his wife several 
times, always calling her by that endearing name, and 
relating occurrences of a nature most affecting. 
Among the rest he said : — 

" 'He would for ever remember the shipwreck they 
had encountered together. How well on that trying 
occasion she did behave ! How, when danger was over, 
he pressed her into his arms /.' 

" In short, my dear friend tells me that those who 
are most habitually in his company all agree in saying, 
that he is almost always talking about her, delighting 
in the recollection of her good qualities, and never 
mentions her name without saying — 

" ' My wife ! My dear little wife /' 

" From a heart apparently so well disposed, I think 
some ultimate good may be reasonably prognosticated. 
Should that be the case, I promise you that no man 
in the world would more sincerely rejoice than your 
ever devoted friend and well-wisher. " 

We have another letter from Mr. Mcllhiny of Lon- 
don, and though it is long, yet it is full of interest 
from beginning to end. Dating 28th October 1805, 
he writes to " William Patterson, Esq., Baltimore :" — 

" My last was advising you of the intended depart- 
ure of your son Robert and his sister, with her child, 
from this country. Since then I have received your 
favor of the 9th of August, covering letters for Robert 
and Madame Bonaparte, which were a few days ago 
nsent on to Liverpool, with a number of other letters 
for Robert to be put on board the Birmingham for 
Baltimore. 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 221 

" The Mars, Captain Murphy, with, that part of 
your family I have already mentioned, went through 
The Doivns on the 27th ult., which is the last we have 
heard of them ; but as the winds have since been tc 
the eastward, with but little variation, we have every 
reason to think and hope that ere this they are safe 
with you. 

" There has not been any letters or messages for 
Madame Bonaparte from the continent since her de- 
parture ; nor can I throw any further light on that 
unfortunate affair, only to repeat my opinion merely 
that they are separated for ever. What confirms me in 
that opinion on that head is Jerome's coming into the 
measures proposed by the Emperor. I believe he is 
now at Paris, and from what I can learn from several 
American gentlemen recently from that place, he has 
been created a prince, and it was generally understood 
there that overtures had been made to the Queen of 
Etruria to marry him, but that she spurned at the 
idea with the greatest contempt, and has said she 
would in preference abdicate her crown. 

" The war has commenced on the continent with 
uncommon vigor, particularly on the part of the 
French ; and Bonaparte goes on with his usual good 
luck. The present moment is big with great events ! 
The next mail from the continent will no doubt bring 
us the news of a decisive victory on the part of the 
French, but whether that will tend to bring about an 
immediate peace with France and Austria is a matter 
as yet not easy to determine, the Russian armies not 
having yet got on the field of battle. At all events 



222 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

however I think you may safely conclude that a gen- 
eral peace will not be the result of anything that may 
be done this campaign ; and that there are some years 
yet to come before peace is restored between this 
country and France." 

On the 31st of July it was published in London 
that " accounts from Genoa of the 23d of June state 
that yesterday morning the Princess Eliza and other 
distinguished personages went on board the Pomona, 
commanded by Jerome Bonaparte. They were saluted 
on their arrival and departure by a double salute 
of artillery. Jerome is reconciled to the Em- 
peror his brother. The Princess Eliza exerted her- 
self very much to effect the reconciliation. Jerome, 
according to reports, will shortly be made the Arch- 
Duke of Genoa." 

We have not been able to find on record the time 
of entry of the ship Mars at the port of Baltimore. 
The newspapers appear to be silent on the subject, 
but Mr. Mcllhiny dates her arrival about the 28th 
of October. Madame Bonaparte however is safe in 
Baltimore again, and but for the sable shadows, now 
and then crossing the radiant disk of her young life, 
she would be happy. 

In the spring of 1806, Mr. Le Camus turns up in 
Cayenne, and writes another letter, from which we 
copy a paragraph. Addressing Mr. Patterson in 
Baltimore, and dating "May the 21st 1806," he 
writes : — " I enclose a letter for Mrs. Bonaparte. I 
wish I could convince you of what I have already told 
you in my former letters. I feel how uneasy you 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 223 

may be in the present circumstances ; but if you be- 
lieve there are on earth moral honor and delicacy, 
you have no reason to be alarmed" 

We have a letter from Mr. Robert Patterson dated 
" Boston, 8th of September 1806, from which we copy 
a short sentence. He writes, i after the many news- 
paper accounts I have seen respecting Mr. Bona- 
parte's squadron, I expect to find him with you on 
my return." 

Dating, " November 21st 1806," William Patterson, 
Esq., Madame Bonaparte's father, writes to W. C. 
Nicholas, Esq., of Virginia, and from his letter we 
copy the following : — " You may have seen by the 
last accounts from France, published in the newspa- 
pers, that Jerome Bonaparte was restored to favor by 
his brother ; and that a second marriage had, or was 
about to take place. We have no information on this 
subject but what appears in the papers, and I am led 
to believe that it must be well founded ; for I do not 
conceive that the Emperor would be reconciled to Je- 
rome on any other terms. It differs however very 
widely from his letters to Betsy when he was lately 
on our coast ; and from every other part of his con- 
duct since he left this country. But the temptation, 
in the situation he was placed in, was perhaps too great 
for him, or any other young man, to resist." 

We have some more news from Jerome coming by 
way of New York, which Mr. William Neilson, Jr., of 
that city communicates to Madame Bonaparte's father 
under date of April 21st 1806. " When I called on 
the captain respecting the picture," writes Mr. Neil- 



224 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

son, " he entered into conversation with me respect- 
ing your son-in-law ; and informed me that he had 
dined with him several times — and that at all times 
he expressed great affection for your daughter. He 
spoke publicly of his determination of adhering 
strictly to his marriage ; and that he would not be 
considered a French-mm if his wife was not consid- 
ered a French-woman. The captain says Prince Je- 
rome has become very steady, and behaves with pro- 
priety and like a man." 

Notwithstanding all this, and the fact that his own 
legal wife w T as still living in Baltimore, his brother, 
the Emperor of France, caused Jerome to be married, 
a second time, to Frederica Catharina, daughter of 
the King of Wurtemberg, on the 12th of August 
1807 ! On this subject we have nothing to say. 

Madame Bonaparte, first and only wife of Jerome, 
still lives in Baltimore, ripe in years and in honors ; 
but her husband is gone to his reckoning. The reader 
will hoAvever inquire of us, where is the little boy of 
Camberwell ? We reply by saying, he lived in Balti- 
more, a highly respectable and honored citizen of the 
United States. He was a good man, and the chamber 
where he met his fate was therefore " privileged. " An 
imposing granite obelisk, erected within the enclosure 
of "Loudon Park Cemetery," near Baltimore, marks 
the spot where his remains peacefully repose. From 
it we copy the inscription : — 



THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 225 

" Sacred 

To the Memory of 

Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, 

Born 

July 7th 1805. 

Died 

June 17th 1870, 

Aged 65. 

Requiescat in pace." 

A tender memorial of his youth is preserved — a 
letter to his " Grandpapa/' — and we give it in full, 
with a translation : — 

" Seminaire de Mont St. Mary, Fevrier 1 1817. 

u Mon Cher Grand-papa— Je ne vous ai jamais ecris une let- 
tre en frangais parceque vous ne l'entendez pas ; mais pour 
vous donner une preuve de ma bonne volonte d'apprendre le 
francjais, je prends ma plume pour cela. Je veux vous donner 
une preuve de mon amitie pour vous en ecrivant une lettre en 
franc, ais. Comment vous portez-vous ? pour moi j e me porte tres 
bien, et je desire beaucoup vous voir et j'espere que vous vien- 
drez bientot me voir. 

" Adieu, mon tres cher grand-papa, c'est tout ce que j'ai a 
vous ecrire a present ; mais que je veux que vous bientot re- 
pondiez a ma lettre. 

11 Je suis votre tres obeissant et tres aimant fils, 

" Jerome Bonaparte." 

" Seminary of Mount St. Mary 
" February 1, 1817. 
" My Dear Grandfather — I have never written to 
you a letter in French, because you do not under- 
stand it ; but to give you a proof of my good will to 



226 THE BONAPARTE-PATTERSON MARRIAGE. 

learn it, I take my pen for this purpose. I want to 
give you a proof of my love for you, in writing you a 
letter in French. How do you do ? for me, I am very 
well, and I have a great desire to see you. 

"Farewell, my dear grandfather, it is all I 
write to you for the present; but I want you to 
answer my letter soon. I am your very obedient and 
loving son, Jerome Bonaparte." 



APPENDIX. 



We copy the following article from the " Baltimore 
Sun," the most popular and extensively circulated 
paper in Maryland. It was published in the issue of 
that paper on the 19th of January 1870, several 
months before the death of Jerome Napoleon Bona- 
parte ; and as it refers to the death of Jerome, his 
father, it will be highly interesting and instructive to 
the reader. 

THE AMERICAN BONAPARTES. 

Tlie Imperial Family of France and its Connections in 
Baltimore. 

The Louisville Courier-Journal has the following : 
The revolutionary movements which are now going 
forward in France invest the Napoleonic dynasty with 
additional interest. Prince Pierre Bonaparte, who 
has caused the pot to boil so fiercely, is a son of the 
great Emperor's brother Lucien, who was considered 
the ablest of the family next after Napoleon. The 
present Emperor is regarded by many as not a Bona- 
parte at all, but the son of a Dutch admiral by Hor- 
tense Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine. Louis 
Bonaparte was forced by his brother to marry Hor- 

(227) 



228 APPENDIX. 

tense. He was in love with, another woman, and 
withal a dreamy sort of person. Those who believe 
in the operation of a principle of poetic justice run- 
ning the progress of history, make mention of the 
fact that the grandson of Josephine, and not of Napo- 
leon, now rules in France as proof that the " whirligig 
of time brings in his revenges." Josephine once said 
" My progeny shall be supreme." But Josephine was 
not the only woman who was ill-used by the imperial 
Corsican. Nor was she the only one who cherished 
hopes of a divine revenge through her descendants. 
And hereby hangs a tale. 

In 1803 Jerome Bonaparte, then in command of a 
French frigate, landed in New York. As the brother 
of Napoleon Bonaparte, he was received with distinc- 
tion, and was most hospitably entertained wherever 
he went. While in Baltimore he met Miss Elizabeth 
Patterson, the daughter of a wealthy merchant of 
that city, and married her on the 24th of December 
of the same year. The ceremony was performed by 
Bishop Carroll, of the Catholic diocese of Baltimore, 
a brother of the distinguished Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton. The marriage contract was drawn up by 
Alexander Dallas, afterwards Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, and was witnessed by the mayor of Baltimore 
and several other official personages. After remain- 
ing in the United States about a year, Jerome Bona- 
parte and his wife embarked for France in an Ameri- 
can ship. 

In the meantime Napoleon, to whom the marriage 
of his brother gave great offence, had ordered that 



APPENDIX. 229 

the newly married pair should be permitted to land 
at no port over which France exercised authority. 
They, therefore, landed at Lisbon, where Jerome left 
his wife, directing her to proceed to Amsterdam, and 
went to Paris with the hope of prevailing upon Napo- 
leon to recognise his marriage; but this Napoleon 
refused to do, at the same time upbraiding his brother 
for daring to marry without his consent. On arriving 
at Amsterdam, whither she went in the American 
ship, Madame Bonaparte was confronted with Napo- 
leon's order forbidding her to land. She then sailed 
for England, where she took up her residence at 
Camberwell, near London. And here on the 7th of 
July 1805, was born her only child, Jerome Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, now living in Baltimore. 

Napoleon had determined that his brothers should 
marry among the princesses of Europe, and all efforts 
to induce him to recognise the wife of Jerome were 
vain, and Jerome was at last forced to yield to the 
wishes of the Emperor and marry the Princess Fred- 
erica Catharine, of Wurtemburg. Madame Bona- 
parte met her husband but once afterward, and then 
no word passed between them. It was in the gallery 
of the Pitti Palace at Florence, in Italy. The Prin- 
cess was leaning on the arm of her husband when the 
meeting took place. Jerome started aside on recog- 
nising Madame Bonaparte, and a moment afterward 
whispered to the Princess : " That lady is my former 
wife." He immediately left the gallery, and the next 
morning quitted Florence. 

Although Napoleon declared the marriage of 



230 APPENDIX. 

Jerome and Miss Patterson null and void, lie could 
never induce the Pope to so declare it ; and a few 
years ago, when the question as to the rank to which 
the Bonapartes of Baltimore were entitled as princes 
of the imperial household was up for decision, the 
protest of the Pope against the decree of Napoleon 
was brought forward. 

Soon after the birth of her son Madame Bonaparte 
returned to Baltimore, where she has principally 
resided ever since, in the enjoyment of a large fortune. 
She was about eighteen years of age when she first 
met Jerome Bonaparte, and is now about eighty-five. 
She was always a great admirer of Napoleon in spite 
of the cruel manner in which he treated her. It is 
said that she believes that her grandson will yet be 
Emperor of France. 

Madame Bonaparte's son, Jerome Napoleon, now 
in his sixty-fifth year, has lived in Baltimore since his 
boyhood. He was educated at Harvard College, 
where he graduated in 1826. He afterwards studied 
law, but never practised at the bar. When quite a 
young man he married a very wealthy lady, Miss 
Susan Mary Williams, originally of Roxbury, Mass., 
and has since devoted his time to the management of 
his large estate and to agricultural pursuits. His 
own fortune, added to that of his wife, made him one 
of the wealthiest men in Baltimore. He visited his 
father several times in Europe, and for many years 
received from him a large Allowance. He is on good 
terms with Louis Napoleon, and has once visited the 
French court, accompanied by one of his sons, upon 

V 



APPENDIX. 231 

an invitation from the Emperor. During the reign 
of Louis Philippe he was permitted to remain in Paris 
for a short time, but was required to assume his 
mother's name of Patterson. 

Mr. Bonaparte has two children, Jerome Napoleon, 
who was born in Baltimore in 1832, and Charles 
Joseph, born in 1852. The first named graduated at 
West Point at the age of twenty, and after remaining 
a short time in the United States army, resigned his 
commission and entered that of France as a sub-lieu- 
tenant. He was with the French and English allies 
in the Crimea, and received a decoration from the 
Sultan of Turkey for his gallant conduct at the siege 
of Sebastopol. 

Mr. Bonaparte is said to bear a strong personal 
resemblance to his uncle, the first Napoleon. If the 
validity of his father's marriage with Miss Patterson 
were recognised by the Court of France, it would 
give him and his children precedence over his half- 
brothers and their sister, the Princess Mathilde, the 
children of Jerome by his second wife. Efforts to 
secure such recognition have been made on perhaps 
more than one occasion, but they failed, though how 
far they fell short of success has never been known 
to the public. Jerome himself, who died at a vener- 
able old age a year or two ago, bitterly opposed all 
such efforts to obtain precedence for the Baltimore 
Bonapartes, and would acknowledge them only by the 
name of Patterson. 

The scrimmage now going on in Paris is peculiar. 
The American Bonapartes are republicans, and so are 



232 APPENDIX. 

the agitators in the Corps Legislatif. It may afford 
some of them an opportunity, and a Patterson may 
yet occupy the Tuileries as Prince President, just as 
Louis, a Beauharnais, occupied the palace in 1849. 
At all events the story is worth re-telling, as more or 
less apropos of transpiring events in .France, in which 
the Bonapartes, their past, present and future, bear 
such close relation. Jerome Bonaparte acted badly 
enough to Miss Patterson. Nor has his family done 
much better. It would be a piece of poetic justice if 
Time should balance the account. 



APPENDIX. 233 

[From the same paper, issued on the 17th of January 
1873, we clip the following article, which explains 
itself:—] 

THE BALTIMORE BONAPARTES. 
Views of Madame Patterson and Col. Jerome Bona- 
parte on the French Situation. 

A Baltimore correspondent of the New York Herald 
gives a detailed history of the American Bonapartes, 
and especially of Madame Jerome Bonaparte Patter- 
son, of this city, who was married to the youngest 
brother of the great Napoleon, by whose decree they 
were divorced, with which history most of our readers 
are familiar. The writer, however, adds some inte- 
resting particulars in regard to the recent illness of 
the lady and in regard to the death of the late Em- 
peror Napoleon. He says : — 

Though eighty-eight years of age, Madame Bona- 
parte retains 

TRACES OF A ONCE WONDROUS BEAUTY. 

Her complexion is still smooth and comparatively fair, 
while her peculiarly beautiful blue eyes are as yet 
undimmed. Her nature is suspicious and warped by 
her many injuries. She seems in constant dread of 
some indefinable injury ; never receives visitors in her 
room save her most intimate acquaintances, and is 
always on the watch for some fancied insult. For the 
past month she has been quite ill, likely to die, so the 
physician said, at any moment, but on hearing the 
fact mentioned by an attendant, she straightened 
herself up in bed and said, emphatically, that 
15 



234 APPENDIX. 

" SHE WOULDN'T DIE, 

and that she intended to live until she was one hun- 
dred years old." From that time she began to improve 
until within a day or so, when she has grown worse. 
She believes that she will yet live to see her grandson 
on the throne of France. She had 

A VERY MEAN OPINIO^* OF THE LATE EMPEROR, 

probably because of the fact that he refused to allow 
her a share in his uncle Jerome's estate, to which, as 
his widow, she was legally entitled. Madame Bona- 
parte is, however, very rich in her own right. The 
present Jerome Bonaparte was always a great favorite 
with her previous to his marriage. She made a hand- 
some allowance to him while in France, it is said, and 
during his sojourn there she supplied him liberally 
with money, as it was always her ambition to have her 
grandson live like the nobility. She has at all times 
watched the political condition of France with great 
interest, and at times would talk freely of her ambi- 
tion for her grandson, and declare 

HIS RIGHT TO THE THRONE 

in case of the death of the Emperor and Prince Im- 
perial. Colonel Bonaparte has steadily refrained from 
making public his views on the situation in France ; 
but it is said by his friends that he would not be averse 
to receiving any distinction which the French people 
might wish to confer upon him; and, in fact, that he 
still hopes for the restoration of the Empire and the 
elevation of the Bonaparte family to its control. He 



APPENDIX, 235 

is personally so fond of the dead Emperor, the Em- 
press and their son, and was such a favorite with them, 
that no position inimical to their interest, however 
complimentarily offered, would be accepted by him. 
This fact is so well known by his' friends that they 
usually look upon him as willing to accept 

A CO-REGENCY WITH THE EMPRESS 

during the minority of the Prince Imperial. I will here 
distinctly reassert that this is but the belief of his friends 
and not his declaration. His grandmother takes that 
view of it very strongly ; but in consequence of their 
personal estrangement has probably no better ground 
for it than his friends. 

Colonel Bonaparte is at this moment on the friend- 
liest footing and pleasantest epistolary intercourse with 
the various members of his family in Europe — notably 
the Empress and the Princess Mathilde — and it is much 
more than probable that the opinion of Colonel Bona- 
parte has been sought and will be followed in the mea- 
sures to be taken by his family in consequence of the 
death of the Emperor, and that in the events of the 
future he will have a controlling part. He has all the 
qualities which endear a ruler to the popular heart, 
being strikingly handsome, suave in his manners, a 
brave and daring soldier, and possessed of no ordinary 
intelligence. He is a great favorite in France among 
those who look for a restoration of the Empire. The 
death of the late Napoleon affected Madame Bona- 
parte strongly, and on the reception of the news she 



236 APPENDIX. 

betrayed emotions which had long lain dormant. One 
of her lady attendants 

ASKED HER IF SHE WAS SORRY. 

"No," said the madame, emphatically, "he would 
not recognise my grandson, and I don't care a bit." 

On being asked what were her views on the political 
situation in France, she evinced no marked interest, 
qind merely said that, for herself, she had done all she 
could to secure her grandson's rightful inheritance, 
and that she could do more, as she was nearly approach- 
ing her final end. She declared the hope and belief 
that he would at some time ascend the throne of 
France. The ruling passion of this remarkable 
woman's life has been to regain 

HER LOST RIGHTS 

in behalf of this grandson, and to that end she has 
studiously economized, though enormously rich, living 
in seclusion, that the greater wealth he lives to inherit 
might add to his chances for the crown. She often 
says that this money may be needed for that purpose, 
and if so, here it all is. She keeps it easily realizable, 
and could convert it all into cash in thirty days. 

She lives in the fourth or fifth story of a boarding- 
house on the corner of St. Paul and Lexington streets, 
and has never, until very recently, had any companion 
or nurse. She talks constantly of her 

RELATIONS TO THE FRENCH EMPIRE, 

and although she is displeased with her grandson for 
what she terms " injuring his own prospects for the 



APPENDIX. 237 

throne" by marrying an American lady, she appears 
brighter and more cheerful since Napoleon's death than 
before, and declares her strong belief of the accession 
of her grandson to the throne in the near future. 

YESTERDAY SHE CONVERSED FREELY UPON THE SITUA- 
TION IN FRANCE, 

and stated that her belief in a great popular demonstra- 
tion at the funeral of Napoleon was strong. " This," 
said she, " would show that the Bonaparte family were 
yet admired by their people, and that the empire would 
yet be re-established, with a Bonaparte at its head." 

In order to find what views Colonel Bonaparte might 
entertain about the succession to the French throne, 
the Herald representative called at his elegant resi- 
dence on North Charles street (the fashionable quarter 
of the city), and was conducted by a lackey, beauti- 
fully attired in drab cloth togs and scarlet waistcoat, 
into 

THE PRESENCE OF MRS. BONAPARTE, 

wife of the colonel and the granddaughter of Daniel 
Webster. She is a remarkably prepossessing lady, 
and was richly attired in a heavy silk morning robe. 
Her surroundings were elegant, and the air of her 
mansion was that of quiet royalty. She received me 
pleasantly, and invited me to a seat. 

WHAT MRS. BONAPARTE SAID. 

" Can I see the colonel, madam ?" said I. 
Mrs. Bonaparte — " He is out, sir. What would you 
have with him?" 



238 APPENDIX, 

"I called for the Herald," I replied, " to inquire 
his views with regard to the present situation in 
France.' ' 

She seeded pleased at this remark, and replied, " I 
am sure, sir, he would not give them." 

"Well, madam," I remarked, "I supposed as much 
from what I have heard ; but he would at least say 
whether he would consent to be drawn from private 
into public life if the French people should desire ; 
and, too, he could afford me some interesting facts 
with regard to his family connections, about which so 
much has been falsely stated in the newspapers." 

" Yes, sir, a great deal that is false has been put in 
the papers," she answered, " and Colonel Bonaparte 
will be glad to see you if you will call again." 

I thanked her for her kindness, and bade her good 
morning. As I passed out the family carriage stood 
before the door, and upon the panels the Bonaparte 
coat-of-arms shone in silver, showing that the Colonel 
held his right to a membership in that remarkable 
family. 

INTERVIEW WITH COLONEL BONAPARTE. 

I called yesterday on Colonel Bonaparte, and was 
well received. After some unimportant remarks I 
alluded to the death of Napoleon III., following it up 
w T ith the question : — 

" Is there now any chance, Colonel, for the restora- 
tion of the empire by a regency of the Empress during 
the minority of the Prince Imperial ?" 

"It is very hard for me to answer that question. 



APPENDIX. 239 

Being here at a great distance from the scene of events 
in France, I am not competent to express an opinion, 
because I have no evidence upon which I could base it. 

THE FRENCH PEOPLE ARE SO PICKLE 

that any conjecture or prediction I could make might 
be falsified by events in a few days or weeks hence. 
The death of the Emperor was so sudden and unex- 
pected that I have scarcely got over my amazement 
at it. I am awaiting events for a week or so before 
I form any opinion as to the chances of a regency. I 
have read in the Herald what the Marquis de Noailles, 
the French minister, said regarding the death of the 
Emperor. I do not agree with him where he says 
that this sad event will give the final blow to the hopes 
of the imperialists. I do not think the restoration of 
the empire improbable, but, on the contrary, believe 
it not impossible that the Emperor's death might 
cause a change of feeling in favor of the empire. Now 
that he is dead it will be remembered that his reign 
had given France twenty years of uninterrupted pros- 
perity, such as she never enjoyed under any preceding 
government, and its disastrous close will not be alto- 
gether attributed to him." 

THE EMPRESS AS REGENT. 

" But would the Empress be qualified to act as 
Regent ?" 

"Why not? She has great tact, is high-minded, 
generous ; indeed possesses those qualifications of head 
and heart w T hich command the admiration of the mul- 



240 APPENDIX. 

titude. The Bonapartes have a far better claim to the 
affection of the French people than the Orleanists and 
the Bourbon pretenders. " 

" Do yon think, Colonel, that the army is still 
attached to the empire?" 

" The French army does not meddle with politics, 
and I think this is right, but I have no doubt that the 
greater part would hail with joy 

THE RETURN OF THE EMPIRE. 

Look at the demonstration there is going to be at 
Napoleon's funeral. I have seen in the papers that 
so many people are leaving France to attend that the 
railways have reduced their fares for that special occa- 
sion. A great number of officers in the army have 
asked leave to pay the .last honors to the dead chief, 
to whom they have sworn allegiance. Does not this 
look like 

A DEMONSTRATION ?" 

" What is your opinion, Colonel, regarding the order 
of the French government that the officers who went 
to attend Napoleon's funeral could only do so in 
civilian's dress ?" 

" I suppose the government wishes to have the fact 
concealed that so many army officers are to be present. 
Being in civilian's dress, their great number will not 
be easily known. The Thiers government appears to 
be uneasy that the demonstration will be very formi- 
dable, and hence these precautions." 

" Are you not 



APPENDIX. 241 

IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE IMPERIAL FAMILY, 

Colonel?" 

" Yes ; I received a letter from the Empress only a 
few days ago, saying that the Emperor was in good 
health, but she did not make any allusion to the pros- 
pects of the imperial family. She very seldom writes 
or talks politics." 

" How did Madame Bonaparte take the death of 
Napoleon ?" 

" I cannot speak for her. I do not suppose she was 
specially affected by it." 

" Is there not some misunderstanding between you 
and Madame Bonaparte ? I hear that you have not 
met lately ?" 

Pause, and then, evasively : " I cannot speak for 
Madame Bonaparte. You had better ask her your- 
self." 

The interesting interview was then brought to a 
close. 

madame Bonaparte's wonderful energy. 
The remarkable energy and singleness of purpose 
with which Madame Bonaparte has striven to obtain 
in fact what the Pope, the French courts and every 
impartial man have declared to be her rights in law, 
have been inherited by her descendants ; and, added to 
the persona] qualities of bravery, discretion, and a 
high view of what is right in her grandson, the Colo- 
nel, promises in the present disturbed state of France 
and amid the vacillating movements of her present 



242 APPENDIX. 

statesmen, a rallying point, the stability of which is 
the most imperative need in that country, as it is an 
indispensable foundation for a contented government. 
This content for themselves and stability for their im- 
perial government will be attempted to be secured by 
the French imperialists by their availing themselves 
of the abilities of the Colonel, and in greater measure 
the higher the office they confer on him. 

From an intimate association with those who know 
the facts well I have compiled the above statements, 
and I close with the declaration that the field of action 
of Colonel Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, now in Bal- 
timore, will be transferred to the old continent ere 
long, and that his efforts there will be devoted and 
commensurate with the national importance and dig- 
nity of the people in whose government the Bonaparte 
family still are endeavoring to take a leading part. 



INDEX. 



"J. Bonaparte," 199. 

" Abdicate her crown," 221. 

" Affair finished," 93. 

"Affected by his disgrace," 134. 

11 A small asteroid," 137. 

44 A year, or 18 months," 209. 

Agamemnon and Napoleon, 36. 

Alexander, Le Camus, 122. 

Amsterdam, Madame Bonaparte before, 190. 

Ancient argosies, 173. 

Anderson, Mrs., 208, 213. 

Annapolis, young couple at, 108. 

Anonymous letters, 29, 30, 32. 

Annulling the marriage, 182. 

Appendix, 227. 

Arbous of Lisbon, 174. 

Arch-Chancellor Beauharnais, 152. 

Arch-Duke of Genoa, 222. 

Armstrong, General, 84, 85, 98, 107. 

his old letters, 149, 158, 185, 186. 
Artesian wells, 175. 

Assassination of Lucien Bonaparte, 172. 
Astonishing paragraph, 100. 
Austerlitz, battle of, 138. 

B. only, 174. 

Bacchiochi, 181. 

Barney, Joshua, 26. 

Battle of Austerlitz, 138. 

Beauharnais family, 180, 181. 

" Beautiful young lady of Baltimore," 181. 

" Be on your guard before Mr. O'Donnell," 210. 

Bentalou, Captain Paul, 39, 184. 

his bills, 168. 

his letters, 51, 217. 

(243) 



244 INDEX. 

" Betsy " (Madame Jerome), 82, 160, 211. 
her son well, 212. 
should return home, 207. 
Bills of exchange, 186. 
Bills protested, 172. 
" Blazon," 179. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, 36, 57, 65, 70, 77. 
Bonaparte, Joseph, and Mr. Livingston, 37. 
Lucien, his character, 63. 
biography, 44. 
quits France, 44. 
Carlo, 40. 
Carolina, 45. 
Eliza, 44. 
Joseph, 41. 
Letizia, 40. 
Louis, 44. 
Paulina, 45. 
Jerome, 25/ 

he arrives at New York, 26. 
his lady, 89, 90, 91, 92. 
his letter to Mr. Patterson, 17 *. 
11 Bonaparte cannot write," 203. 
Bordeaux Gazette, 167. 
Borghese, Princess, 153. 
Boston stirred, 177. 
Bourne, Sylvanus, Esq., 193. 
lt Brave Centre," 57. 
Brig Georgia lost, 167. 
British Neptune, 84. 
il Burn my letters," 174. 
"Buzz," 117. 

Cambrian frigate, 90, 91. 

Campan, Madame, 25, 38. 

" Camp " marriage, 116. 

Cannonier frigate, 150. 

Captain Duncan, 205. 

Cardinal Fesch, 147, 180. 

Careless handling of the Bonapartes, 177. 

Carroll. Bishop, 31. 

' Charles, 31, 106. 
Caton, Richard, 106. 
Cession of Louisiana, 140. 
Chase, Samuel, 26. 
Cipher writing, 156, 160, 171, 172, 175, 179. 



INDEX, 245 

Citizen Jerome Bonaparte, 181. 

of the United States, Jerome must become, 53, 
Clark, General, 97. 
"Cold steel," 139. 
"Columbian Centinel," 177. 
" Come alone to France," 116. 
"Come-off," 200. 
Consul at Bordeaux, 156. 
at Malmaison, 55. 
Consulate at Rotterdam, 137. 
Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, 119, 126. 

description of, 136. 
Count de Moustier, 107. 
County house, 197. 
Cybele frigate, 89. 

Dacres, French Minister of Marine, 178. 
his letter to M. Pichon, 66. 

Jerome, 73, 110. 
Dallas, Alexander J., 31. 
Danes, a misnomer, 111. 
Deafness of Mr. Livingston, 84. 
Demon of deception, 139, 
Depravity of morals, 172. 
Didon frigate, 89, 90. 
Dining with Lucien, 61 ; with Joseph, 85. 
Diplomacy ll shut out," 119. 
Dog-watch, 63. 
Dragon of Night, 161. 
Dreadful secrets, 170. 
Driver sloop of war, 91. 
Duke of Wellington, 107. 
Dulany, Mrs., 113. 
Duncan, Capt., 205. 

« Eliza," 208. 

Embarkation for America, 213, 215. 

of Jerome and wife, 160. 
Embden, 185. 
"Emperor says," 211. 

to Jerome, 212. 

in cipher, 156. 
" Enemy of Bonaparte/' 58. 
Epistle of Le Camus, 198. 
"Erin" ship, 161, 185, 191, 192. 
Esmenard, Mr., 102. 
" Everybody took notice of it," 217. 



246 INDEX. 

Extract from Bentalou, 184. 
'• Extremely angry," 116. 
"Extremely dejected," 217. 

" Fair spouse " of Jerome, 113. 

Fame and beauty go before her, 139. 

" Farewell, my dear grandfather," 225. 

Fictitious names, 117. 

Final forsaking, 175. 

" Fine large fellow," 212. 

First and second family, 174. 

''First Consul's great displeasure," 61. 

Five hundred dollars reward, 88. 

Flag and register, 191. 

Flight of the young couple, 115. 

Florida lands, 140, 143. 

Forgeries, 110. 

French and American gossip, 36. 

official letters, 110. 

leave, 99. 

intrigue and deceit, 210. 

calendar, 108. 

paragraph, 159. 

letters of Maupertuis, 120, 123, 124, 128, 129, 131, 132. 

letters of Cuneo De Ornano, 145. 
M. Meyronet, 150. 
Gen. Rewbell, 164, 165. 
French as France, 198. 
"French leave," 99. 
French tariff, 154. 
Frenchman and Frenchwoman, 224. 
Frederica Catharina, 224. 
Frigates at New York, 116, 135. 

Gamier, Doctor, 199, 209, 211. 

Genet, Citizen, 38. 

Genealogy of Buonaparte, 179. 

" General Armstrong in cipher" 156. 

Armstrong, 156. 

Clark, 97. 

Le Clerc, 26, 181. 

Lafayette, 28. 

Pulaski, 39. 

Ray, 92. 

Rewbell, 164, 166, 169. 

Smith, 33, 86, 144. 

Tuerreau, 33, 162, 163, 197. 



INDEX. 247 

Genoa, Jerome at, 190. 

11 Gentleman from Dover," 115. 

tl Gentleman who came out with John/' 119. 

Gigantic powers of Bonaparte, 215. 

Girard, Stephen, 28. 

"Going with an ambassador," 98. 

Gonteaume, Admiral, 147, 152. 

" Good and amiable mother," 117. 

Gravesend, 216. 

Halifax newspaper, 110. 

" Haughty England," 57. 

Heaven and the First Consul, 58. 

He italicised, 60. 

" He would for ever remember the shipwreck/' 220. 

II He will write everything you say," 210. 
Helen and Paris, 35. 

"Hero," 67. 

" Her imperial highness," 181. 

" Her marriage having no existence," 213. 

" Highway of nations," 161. 

Holland, Mad. Bonaparte sent to, 116. 

Hour of parting, 175. 

"If you return, come alone/' 112. 
"I dare not write to him," 126. 

II I have written to Lucien," 140. 
"I was highly nattered," 61. 

u I will allow her a pension," 213. 

Immutable affection, 125. 

" In all conscience," 217. 

"In a gale," 114. 

" Incomparable nation," 54. 

Intercepted letters, 79, 110. 

Interesting and pleasing intelligence, 112. 

' lady, 127. 
In mid-ocean, 161. 

Jerome and lady at the theatre, 149. 
he and his lady incog., 114. 
"he can plead his cause," 134. 
he kisses the children, 204. 
his august brother, 134. 
his bills, 149. 
his horses, 162. 
his second marriage, 224. 
his squadron, 204, 223. 
his mother affected by his disgrace, 134. 



248 INDEX. 

Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. 

his birth, 200. 

his letter, 225. 

his grave, 224. 

his life and death, 224. 
"Jerome was off" 114. 
"John and Joseph" sails, 209. 
Josephine, Empress, 113. 

"Keep dark/' 204. 
Key to cipher writing, 157. 
King of England, 199. 
Knock off cutting, 198. 

Lafayette, 28. 

Leander frigate, 79. 

Le Camus, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202, 222. 

u Legion of Honor," 152. 

Letter E, 98. 

from *' A Friend" to Wm. Patterson, Esq., 29. 
" A Frenchman" " 32. 

Robert Patterson " 36. 

" 49. 

11 " 60. 

" " 63. 

t* « 93 # 

" u 104.' 

" " 108. 

" " 139. 

« " 148. 

" " 153. 

" 158. 

" " 170. 

" 175. 

Madame Bonaparte " 98, 207, 209. 

Chancellor Livingston " 85. 

General Tuerreaii " 162, 197. 

Captain Bentalou u 41. 

Jerome Bonaparte a 174. 

Alex. Le Camus " 195, 202, 222. 

James Mcllhiny « 213, 220. 

William Patterson to Chancellor Livingston, 33. 
" Jerome Bonaparte, 80, 81. 

" General Tuerreau, 163. 

W. C. Nicholas, 223. 
M. Dacres to Jerome Bonaparte, 73. 
Joseph Bonaparte to Jerome Bonaparte, 102. 



INDEX. 249 

Letter from Napoleon Bonaparte to Jerome Bonaparte, 212. 

M. Dacres to M, Pichon, 66. 

Joseph Bonaparte to Mr. Livingston, 87. 

George W. Patterson to Madame Bonaparte, 93, 188. 

Sylvanus Bourne to R. J. Sehimmelpenninck, 193. 

Captain Bentalou to Robert Patterson, 217. 
Le President frigate, 158. 
"Little Baltimore Beauty," 99. 
Livingston, 190. 
" London is before you," 57. 
" London-particular-three-years-old-wine," 149. 
London Morning Chronicle, 182. 
"Loudon Park," near Baltimore, 224., 
Louisiana, cession of, 140. 
" Low Corsican," 179. 
" Lovely bride," 112. 
Love on the Chesapeake, 118. 
" Lovely Princess" of Jerome, 146. 
Lucien Bonaparte, 158. 

his arrest at Milan, 160. 
Lull of curiosity, 113. 

Madame Bonaparte first in the life-boat, 114. 
her vessel, 187. 

in London, 195. 

her first child, 200. 

his name, 200. 

her letter, 207. 
Marchioness of Donegal, 209. 
Market street, Baltimore, 88. 
Marriage of Miss Patterson, 28, 31, 46, 47, 48. 

Lucien Bonaparte's opinion of it, 52, 53, 54. 

Joseph " " " 55. 

" Mars" brig, 215. 
Master wheel, 79. 
" Matter of form," 56. 
Maupertuis at the wheel, 120. 

his letters, 93, 105, 119, &c. 

he retires, 137. 

in Rotterdam, 142, 166. 
" Maw of a whale," 114. 
Maxim of Mr. Patterson, 148. 
McKfm, Mr., 129. 

Mcllhiny and Glennie, 143, 154, 213, 219, 220. 
Meeting of Napoleon and Jerome, 218. 
Menelaus, king of Sparta, 35. 
Mid-ocean, 161, 164. 

16 



250 INDEX. 

Minister Monroe, 106. 

" Misfortune pursues him," 121, 134. 

Miss Spear, 122. 

" Mistress," 100, 180. 

M. Dumestre, 146. 

M. Eugene Beauharnais, 152. 

M. Mejronnet, 150, 165, 166. 

M. Paseault, 165. 

" Momentary disgrace," 127. 

Moniteur, 100, 105, 158. 

" Moral honor and delicacy," 223. 

Morris, Robert, 28. 

Mount St. Mary, 225. 

Mrs. McDonald, 122. 

Murat, Prince, 152. 

Murphy, Captain, 215. 

" My dear Alexander," 121, 122, 128. 

" My dear Chambry," 125, 127, 133. 

" My dear Jerome," 73, 77, 103. 

" My second mother," 174. 

"My wife, my dear little wife," 220. 

Napoleon to Jerome, 112. 

''Narrow escape," 114. 

Negotiations for East Florida, 143. 

Neutral port, 196. 

" Never show my letters," 174. 

New York out-sensationed, 113. 

News via New York, 223. 

Nicholas, W. C, 223. 

Note from Lucien to Robert Patterson, 52. 

Notre Dame, 130. 

Obelisk of granite, 224. 
O Jerome ! 75. 
O'Meally, 208. 
On board the Erin, 161. 

a packet, 113. 

a snow, 114. 
On the sea, 161, 168. 

Chesapeake, 161. 
wharf, 161. 
u On your guard," 158. 
Orcel, M., 103. 

Panic and prestige, 138. 
Paragraph of the 12th October, 104, 106. 
New York sensation. 112. 149. 



INDEX. 251 



Pascault, M., 165. 

Patterson, Mrs. Elizabeth, 27. 

George M., his letters, 94, 189. 
Robert, in France, 36. 

his diplomacy, 39. 

his letter, 36. 
Patterson, William, Esq., 28. 

letters to Jerome, 80, 81, 83. 
on the marriage, 34. 

his letter to Mr. Livingston, 33. 
Peddler of paragraphs, 173. 
" Person sent to the Texel," 185. 
Philadelphia under true colors, 115. 
Pichon, Citizen, 85. 
Pilot Town, shipwreck at, 115. 
l< Pique of the moment," 170. 
Pomona at Genoa, 222. 
Pope of Rome, 97. 
Portrait of lovely bride, 112. 
P. Cuneo de Ornano, 148. 
Premeditated aggression, 147. 
i£ Pressed her into his arms," 220. 
11 Pretended marriage," 159, 167. 
Priam, king of Troy, 35. 
" Prince of royal blood," 53. 
Princess Eliza on the Pomona, 222. 
Prize drawn, 161. 
Propitious moment, 135. 
Protested bills, 172. 
Pulaski, Count, 39. 
"Put a foot on French territory," 199. 

Queen of Etruria, 97. 

spurns Jerome, 221. 
Quidnuncs, 99. 
" Quiz in the tale, "114. 

" Ranioglini," 180, 181. 

Ray, Gen., 92. 

Red letters, 188. 

Register, and flag of the U. S., 192. 

" Repudiated his wife," 158. 

11 Requiescat in Pace/ 1 225. 

Revolution in France, 131. 

Revolutionnaire 44 guns, 118. 

Rewbell, 166, 169. 

Robereus ship, 159. 



252 INDEX. 

Rochefort fleet, 155. 
Rotterdam, letter from, 190. 
Eue Royal, Lille, 93. 

Scandal, 100. 

Scandalous paragraph, 100, 104, 106. 

Schimmelpenninck, Mr., 190, 193. 

Schooner Cordelia, Captain Towers, 113. 

Seal of wax, 188. 

Second and first family, 174. 

Select company, 219. 

u Sending coals to Newcastle," 183. 

" Sent back to the United States," 172. 

" Separated for ever," 221. 

u She will be well received," 93. 

tl She will shine in Paris," 146. 

Ship Enterprise, 216. 

Erin, Captain Stephenson, 161, 185, 193. 

Mars, Captain Murphy, 215. 

Thomas, 99. 
Shipping wine to France, 183. 
Shipwreck of young couple, 115, 220. 
Sickly views of marriage, 60. 
Silence, 64. 

of Napoleon, 62. 
Skipwith, Fulwar, 38, 142, 149, 161. 
Sleighs and snowballs, 88. 
Smiles, 139. 

Smith, Samuel, in Congress, 33, 86, 144. 
Snowballs, 88. 

Snow, Philadelphia, Captain Kennedy, 114. 
Spain and the United States, 143. 
" Specific administered," 62. 
Speculation in Florida lands, 140, 141. 
Summer residence, 92. 
li Stamp of greatness," 127. 
St. Croix de Teneriffe, 144. 

Table, admitted to, 63. 

" Tell Mrs. Jerome," 103. 

Tempestuous sea, 53. 

Theatre, Jerome and lady at, 113. 

The child vaccinated, 200. 

The Downs, 206, 221. 

The mother, 176. 

The noble Erin, 170. 

The Texel, 187, 198. 



INDEX. 253 



Thole, Lucien confined in, 160. 

" Three letters to Lucien," 210. 

Thorn in the flesh, 79. 

11 Throw Jerome in prison," 156, 158. 

Tiptoe gossip, 28. 

Treaty of 1803, claims, &c, 141. 

of Morfontain, 1 

of Luneville, V 101. 

of Amiens, J 
Tri-colored flag, 57. 
Troy, 35. 
Tuerreau, 33. 
Tunbridge Wells, 209. 

Unappropriated lands, 140. 

" United with one of the best," 95. 

Upas, deleterious, 60. 

"Ventose," 11th, 80. 

Vessel of the United States, 192. 

Walsingham packet, 175. 

Washington City, young couple in, 118, 

Washington street, N. Y., 90. 

War-song on the deep, 65. 

What ladies covet, 95. 

What ladies call a "come-off," 200. 

Wheeler, Miss, 30. 

Wheel of powerful dimensions, 119. 

William Neilson & Co., 82. 

" Will never acknowledge the marriage," 211. 

" Without information from Jerome," 206. 

"Wives and daughters of the conquered," 59. 

"Wool-dealer," 181. 

" Wrested by the sea from France," 58. 

"Write to Miss Patterson," 212. 

Young couple, 80, 89, 100, 112, 113, 116, 170. 
shipwrecked on the Delaware bay, 115. 
in Annapolis, 118. 
in Washington, 118. 
in Baltimore, 139. 
sail at 8 o'clock a. m., 162, 163. 
on the sea, 168. 
in mid-ocean, 161, 164. 
quarantined at Lisbon, 174. 
final parting there, 175. 



254 INDEX. 

Young couple. 

the bride sails for the Texel, 185. 

she is before Amsterdam, 193. 

she is not allowed to land, 194. 

she is guarded by guns, 191. 

she is placarded by handbills, 185. 

she sails for Dover, 195. 
" she imprudently went to London/ 7 196. 

she is advised to go home, 211. 
" write to Miss Patterson to return," 212. 
" I will allow her a pension," 213. 
" she must not take my name," 213. 

embarkation for Baltimore, 215 
"Young person," 65, 67, 73, 77, 78, 85. 



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